


A Day in Kumo

by Ikasury



Series: WYCH - Series [8]
Category: Naruto
Genre: A different path, Alternate Universe, Angst, Calling the old Man out, Cloud Village, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Drabble Collection, Drinking, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, For Want of a Nail, Gen, Grandma is a Sailor, Hilarity Ensues, Kumogakure, Left on the Cutting Room Floor, Lots of OCs - Freeform, M/M, Made-up History, Non-Chronological, Not who they say they are, Raikage is your Daddy!, Raised by Assassins, Rashomon Effect, Smoking, Spoilers, Stepford Crazy, Village of Ocs, What-If, non-canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 13:33:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 82,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5969068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ikasury/pseuds/Ikasury
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Day in Kumo is a powerful thing, it can change the course of the entire village or be so mundane as to have no effect at all...</p><p>These are the side stories to 'Who You Callin' Hyuuga?' taken from the daily lives of those in Kumo. Past, Present, Future, Alternate Reality, Canon and Non-Canon, every day shows something new about the people living it...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Day in Kumo

**Author's Note:**

> Since i have WYCH up to date here so far, i figured i'd bring this over as well... no, this is not a continuation of the series but a collection of side-stories...
> 
> while writing WYCH i have amounted a formidable collection of complete and incomplete scenes, some times they are used in WYCH, sometimes they are left buried in my dumpfile~ so i made this to dust them off and bring them to light.
> 
> not all of these are canon to WYCH universe, so i'll be pointing out which ones are an aren't as we go along~
> 
> first up!
> 
> Canon! takes place about a year prior to WYCH start - this is the WYCH version of how the Jin became the Raikage! :D
> 
> Dis: Kishimoto owns Naruto and the main idea, i'm just fiddling with everything else~
> 
> ENJOY!!

A Day in Kumo…

There was a rumble outside, dark clouds hanging in the sky…

Grey eyes opened, facing the floor to ceiling windows of her lone room in her quarters on the far side of the village. For six years this room had been the closest thing she had to a home, it was sparse, small and barren, much like herself. The young woman sat in a perfectly still kneeling position, silencing her mind as her heightened senses told her there was a shift in the world around her…

A swift sound and a large teen went to one knee, fist on the ground as his sandy red head faced the ground, red eyes never daring to glance up at the woman that was his new master.

All was silent stillness for the longest moment before the red-eyed teen spoke one word.

“Confirmed.”

A growl was the only response, mixing with the rumbling thunder outside. When the boy dared to tilt his head up enough to confirm his suspicions he found the small, sparse, barren room empty aside from him.

The white assassin was on the hunt.

\-----

“Naota what are you doing?” a cheery voice glided over and to the ears of the young chuunin, their dark blue eyes spying the young female teen that was their partner. She smiled that wide and warming smile that always brought a smile to their face.

As much as they tried to resist Naota couldn’t, not in their partner’s presence, “Shiyori-chan, you’re out here late?”

Shiyori, the beautiful brown haired girl just a bit older then the dark blue haired chuunin just kept up that smile, adjusting the sleeves on her evening kimono as she moved to lean on the railing beside them. Without thinking or notice the brunette rubbed up along the glasses wearing chuunin’s arm, causing them to blush, as she leaned comfortably to look at them, “I could say the same of you Naota,” again without concern for personal space she reached a tan hand out and poked her pale partner on the nose, “Its late enough, with a storm on the way and you’re out here brooding… again~”

A blush passed over pale cheeks as they tried to hide it among long dark blue bangs, “Y-you know I like this weather…”

“Hmm…” the tan young woman was leaning her chin on her propped hand, “Suppose you do,” her voice sounded annoyed and miffed, “It’s so heady and humid, you probably like the feel of all this moisture in the air, huh?”

Naota gave a nervous chuckle, “What can I say… I’m a water type of person?”

That bell-like giggle spread through the air and Naota couldn’t help but smile, watching as Shiyori laughed…

Then suddenly there was silence.

The young dark blue haired chuunin blinked open their eyes, snapping to their partner as they noticed **_that_** look come over the tan brunette’s face. Gone was the giggling warm effervescent smile; in its place was cold and merciless as those dark eyes seemed to peer through Naota.

- _No… she’s not looking at me…_ \- without thinking the young chuunin turned around, tensing as their hands went straight for their blades as they came face to face with something they would never forget.

Before them was what appeared to be a woman, lilt and pale wearing only what appeared to be black and grey. Her hair was short and white with braids framing her sharp pale face and her eyes were a reflection of steel. She, too, was not facing Naota.

As the chuunin’s hand gripped their blade something like a growl permeated the area and they were hard pressed to tell if it had anything to do with the dark rolling clouds or the woman invading their private moment…

A warm hand passed over Naota’s hand, soothing to the touch, forcing them to let go of their weapon as Shiyori stepped before her partner, placing herself in the path of the white woman.

The two seemed to stare intensely for a moment, eyes set in that same look… and in an instant all Naota saw was the white woman gone, red spreading all over Shiyori’s body as her body collapsed in slow motion.

There were no words… on instinct Naota dropped to their knees, reaching without thought to catch their partner as the young woman seemed to suddenly be bleeding from wounds… so _many_ wounds… there was no way to stop the bleeding, it was too quick, all her major arteries and veins were slit open and dark blood was quickly pooling around them…

“Shi… Shi…” Naota’s body was shaking, dark blue eyes wide as they couldn’t comprehend what just happened, what was happening in front of them…

A red hand reached up; with the last of her strength Shiyori touched Naota’s cheek and smiled at them…

Then the light faded from her eyes and the arm fell without warning.

There was a sudden shift, the sound of a blade flicking, blood dropping and Naota’s frazzled mind homed in on it. The white woman, the white _assassin_ was standing there, flicking her blade clean with her back facing the two.

For the longest moment Naota just stared, mind still unable to comprehend or understand what happened…

The woman stepped forward, and disappeared.

\----

“Hehe, no… really?” a tan hand gripped the man’s large bicep.

“Not even joking,” he laughed as the woman shoved him in her disbelief, neither mentioning how she pressed her chest further around his arm as she nuzzled her way around his shoulder. He waved a hand nonchalant as he continued his ill-gotten tale, she laughed at his antics and the two of them stepped closer and closer on the open platform.

It was rare that Reki ever felt this happy, sure she loved her job, running whatever assistant she had ragged, and she loved her young children. Daiyo helped a lot with the kids, Jun and Mei seemed to like him, or at least Mei liked that she already had the man wrapped around her little finger and Jun was comfortable enough around the man to listen to him. The scruffy dark blonde would come over when he was free, give Mei all the piggy-back rides she wanted and always showed Jun a thing or two about using his kunai. He was a great step up from her last affair…

The black haired woman pushed the bad memories away by nuzzling further into the man’s shoulder, forehead to that evening fabric he always wore. The sleeves were long and ridiculous but no matter what she said the man wouldn’t let go of them, called them ‘traditional’ to his family, she called it silly. He was rambling on about some mission he had, his mark being a rich idiot that fell for some overly ridiculous plan that got him killed while looking like an accident. It was likely the desk clerk had heard it before but she didn’t care… she just loved hearing his voice, being able to touch him like this and not have to worry about brats splitting them up or paperwork.

- _Just for a moment… let my eternity be like this…_ \- she breathed in his scent, mixed with the heady air outside, as she tried to memorize every facet she could feel. The way he stood, the way he felt, the way he breathed… kami strike her down she was such a sap of a romantic when she was in love with some idiot.

“So, the authorities came and-”

He stopped.

Black eyes opened, he wasn’t stiff like the coming of battle, in fact she didn’t feel anything, but suddenly… stillness.

Stillness was bad.

Without any prompting Reki leaned back, separating herself enough from Daiyo to look him over, glance up at his face and sense the entire area. She was a veteran ANBU for kami’s sake, the amount of information her mind processed in the time others took to measure a second was unfathomable.

The dark tan blonde man was still, his head turned to look over their shoulders as this look came about his eyes she had only ever seen on one other person…

- _Satsuki…_ \- without thinking the older woman turned around and something in her heart broke. Standing before them was a woman with pale skin, white hair and steel grey eyes. It had been years since she’d seen the girl, now woman this close. After what happened with her children’s father, Reki had wanted to find Satsuki and reconcile… but every time she caught a glimpse of the woman it was at a distance and usually her back, as if the young girl she’d known was purposely ignoring she existed. The black haired Jounin had given up, severing their tie as it seemed to be what the woman wanted… a part of her always feeling guilty at her own cowardice.

Now this…

Daiyo turned around smooth as silk, releasing himself from Reki without the woman even noticing how or when he’d done it, taking a step forward and taking a stance she’d never seen him make in battle. He wasn’t tense, almost calm as it seemed he was only standing before the white haired woman. Neither said a word, only held that intense gaze…

“Don’t…” the word left Reki’s lips before her mind had the time to register why. She had seen Satsuki in battle; brought the girl with the other R&D test subjects in as shocktroops during the Uzu War as a vanguard for her command… she knew what that girl could do when **_that_** look came over her face. – _Don’t Dai… don’t do it… don’t you dare leave me!!_ -

A rumble from the coming thunder, both had blades in their hands…

An instant…

And the man was crumpling on the ground, blood quickly pooling around him.

Black eyes followed as the man fell to the ground, her expert eyes taking in the sudden wounds that formed on his body that began to seep blood.

They raised a fraction and caught those sharp steel colored ones.

For a moment the two women just stared. Something unreadable passed through the white woman’s grey eyes while Reki’s black ones scrunched in a manner that showed too much; hate, sorrow, love, fear, regret, joy, guilt, pain… all mixed into an empty cacophony as she stared at the woman the girl she knew had become.

“Sats-” and a futile reach was as far as she got before the woman was gone… again.

Reki fell to her knees, arms hung limply for a moment before her blank black eyes fell on the body in front of her, huddled in a mass surrounded in dark blood. Mechanically she reached out rolling him over; catching in a single glimpse the extent that woman had done to him. There were precision cuts in all his major arteries and veins; both jugular, carotid, the aorta just above the heart and vena cava just below and to the right, both arm pits, both femoral, two distinct stabs in his stomach where the hepatic vein and renal artery were along with the iliac around his hips… all the blood he had was literally pumped out of his body in seconds. There was no chance he could have survived.

Shaky hands reached out, pulled him by that stupid evening kimono into her lap as her arms numbly slid around his back and shoulders placing his head right above her heart as her own leaned on his…

And she cried.

“I deserve this… I deserve this…” the minute whisper and tears were all that could be heard on the platform.

\-----

In less than an hour all the external members of the clan were dead.

That left only the direct clan members.

The white haired assassin stepped through the gates off the sole bridge that lead to the lair of one of Kumo’s greatest triumphs. The current Raikage had killed the leader of this branch of Assassins before his ascension, using them against his own father and mother to take the ‘throne’ of Kumo. His father had won the Raikage title by coup, so his son had done the same, just as every leader of the bandits before Kumo had all the way back to village’s founding as a hideout. The current Raikage had been lucky; obtaining these elusive master killers, even more lucky when ten years ago more of them had shown up, offering up a child as payment for their refuge. 

A child that was returning for the first time in that decade to what was once her clan.

Satsuki did not hate her clan, did not seek revenge for what they had done; sold her, thrown her away, making her a non-person to them, non-people. She told herself she felt nothing towards them, it was why they could function side-by-side normally.

But today was not a normal day.

They threatened the one thing that gave meaning to her life, the **_only_** thing that mattered to her.

They would not harm her Lord… and she would make sure of that.

As the doors to the inner sanctum of the Assassin clan opened, revealing the remaining ‘true’ clan members with the head standing right before her, all of them with weapons drawn, the only thing any of them saw was a flash of those unfamiliar steel colored eyes.

… Then the bloodbath began.

\-----

Panting and in severe pain, the white haired assassin fell to her knees on the blood flooded floor. All around her were the bodies… so many bodies… each with the same wounds, all of them drained of blood that flowed freely from arteries and veins strategically cut open.

She had held the technique for too long but it had been necessary… had she stopped, even for an instant, and not one of them was completely dead they would have killed her.

It was ironic, she realized, that with this final act, this final end to her clan, she had fully realized and achieved what they had all only dreamed of.

In a single blow, without thought or consideration of the outcome, she had killed them all.

“Ahghh…” her body seized, trembling as pain shot through every nerve she had…

She could feel their hearts still beating with nothing left as they began to die one by one. Each death, each life snuffed out, she felt it… _all_ of it.

“C-curse me… all… you.. wan-AGHH!!” she flipped over, the pain and spasms increasing as she had to clinch her jaw just to not bite off her own tongue. It took several long agonizing minutes for the feeling to subside, all the while she could feel their hearts futilely pump air… just a few more seconds and the muscle died, silencing them. A few more seconds to damn what she’d done.

“You were… you… haa… haa…” another wave of pain as her jaw clinched to the point she was almost positive her teeth cracked. What her words could not finish her mind did – _You were going to kill him, I would_ **never** _let that happen…_ -

Why was she trying to justify herself… to corpses…

For the longest time those cloudy eyes stared at the ceiling, blood dripping from the higher levels she had slain others on as the pain wracked her body.

Why did she care what they thought, they were dead…

Why did she **_still_** care what they thought, they were the ones that threw her away…

Somewhere in the back of her mind there had still been hope hadn’t there? From when she was a child seeking the elders’ approval… that childish desire to have the others see her like they saw the other ‘Assassins’… to **_be_** one of those Assassins…

Now they were dead… by her own hand.

She was a true Assassin… and none of them were there to see it.

“It… doesn’t… matter…” her voice was so low and high pitched as tears ran freely down the sides of her face as her grey eyes continued to stare openly at the ceiling, her body tense with pain, “it… doesn’t… matter…”

They were dead… her Lord was alive, that’s all that mattered.

… If only she could hear those words over the sound of empty hearts.

There was another low rumble from the heavy hanging clouds.

Grey eyes snapped open as an enormous presence suddenly came within range of her senses. There was only one man with chakra that wild, massive, and capable of moving that fast outside the village right now: The Raikage.

- _Jin!_ \- her body snapped to action, rising to her feet, not caring about the lingering pain or the dried blood seeped into her clothes. She had to get to him before his Father, had to tell him it was safe… - _Jin, you can kill him now…_ \- she nearly stumbled on her way out, either from her worn body or a slip didn’t matter as she caught herself on the door frame.

For a moment Satsuki paused, a sense of dread coming over her that had nothing to do with her Lord. It was that sense any killer got when they left a grave, that lingering feel of death right on their heels about to pounce and creep along with them… it was that feeling along the back of her neck that made her want to turn and face the corpses of the fallen… knowing she may break if she did so.

Shaking her head roughly the white haired assassin opened steely eyes, facing the heavy hanging clouds and building thunder. – _Jin needs me…_ \- her Lord needed her… that was all that mattered… all that would **_ever_** matter.

Solidifying her decision, ‘Kemui’ Satsuki left the Assassins’ tomb and never looked back.

\-----

A week ago word was sent to Kumo of a mounting Konoha invasion along their southern border. With an army of ten thousand shinobi the Konoha-nin sought to invade the Land of Lighting, forming a stronghold on one of their border towns and proceeding to invade in multiple strikes from there.

The Raikage had merely grunted his displeasure, asking how the hell Konoha managed to get **_TEN THOUSAND_** shinobi strong in one army? “Either those pansy tree-huggers have those kinds of resources to waste or not a single one of these scrubs is worth my time…” the large Oni of a man’s assistant had merely squeaked, running out of the way as he punched a hole in the wall and stared down, “Might as well find out…”and with that the Third Raikage, like many before him, jumped out into the open clouds of Kumo bent on seeking out this supposed en masse army of Konoha.

He made it to the outpost in two days, a _leisurely_ pace for a man of his speed, only to find his men, some couple hundred left, at the outpost grossly outnumbered by what seemed to be a _wave_ of conscripted shinobi. Most had that look of the ‘pussy tree-huggers’ but some looked to be from the minor nations in-between their countries and tossed a Konoha headband. Can’t say the Raikage was all that surprised, Konoha liked taking a page from Iwa’s book with shocktroops and overwhelming numbers from time to time… at least when it came to fighting Kumo.

“Hmp,” the large Oni had shrugged, unimpressed. His men could handle an armada like this easy; the only thing holding them back was trying to hold the position and fatigue from fighting for days. The great Oni just spit on the ground, walking forward passed the stronghold, when his people tried to call him back he merely waved back at them, “Shut the hell up and get out of here,” cracking his neck he looked down at the horde of ants in his way, “I’ll handle this…”

The history books in every nation **_BUT_** the Village Hidden in the Clouds states the large Oni of a man, the Third Raikage faced off against that onslaught of Konoha elite ninja for three days and died from his wounds and exhaustion.

Any **_Kumo_** shinobi being told this would just stare at the storyteller like they’re a moron and walk away. In Kumo the story is quite different. The Third Raikage did go to that stronghold and did fend off the Konoha invasion for three days straight, but neither did he ‘die nobly from exhaustion’ nor did he do so to ‘save his people’. The man had been bored sitting around in his throne room so went trying to find a challenge. He hadn’t killed ten thousand shinobi by himself yet, and the only reason he told his people to leave was so they weren’t in his way. A Juggernaut could fight infinitely better not caring who they were smashing between their fingers… not that he would have paused at killing his own men, he just hated wasting the resources.

And for the record, from the man’s own testimony they **_were NOT_** ‘Highly trained Konoha elite ninja’, just a massive horde of genin and chuunin fodder-nin, like normal, that he’d expected from Konoha. They didn’t _waste_ their good shinobi in these dumbass invasion schemes, and if they did, the bastards usually retreated long before he could get through all the chaff to get them… the pricks.

Now, three days later, when the sun rose over the low-lands the Third Raikage had simply breathed out an unhappy snort, crossing his arms and looking out upon his destruction…

… Utterly, completely fucking bored.

“Pansies…” with that muttered grunt the man had turned heel, breezing through his base, snagging a sandwich from one of his men and mumbled a guttural, “Clean this shit up,” while making his way out the back… finishing his sandwich.

Whelp, that had been boring, got him to sweat decently but that was probably just from the hotter temperature down on the ground, it was a coin toss to the large Oni. So after this little sojourn the man made his _brisk_ way back to Kumo, recuperating his strength and wondering what was going to happen now to alleviate his unfathomable boredom.

Sometimes being the strongest man in the world sucked…

He didn’t even bother to look up or slow his pace as he passed the great ‘entrance’ to Kumo, the huge slab commissioned by his grandfather when he decided this would be a ‘Shinobi’ village and no longer a bandit hideout. He remembered seeing it as a kid with his mother and shouting ‘daddy!!’ up at the big angry Oni riding the thunder cloud bent on terrorizing the villages below. His own son had said something similar, the little punk…

That reminded him…

“Hmm?” something about this ‘home coming’ seemed oddly quiet. Where was that bastard Assassin, whatshisname that always liked to talk his fucking ear off with inane bullshit whenever he was within spitting distance? And weren’t those fuckers supposed to keep his son in line? He knew the little jerk was coming back from his own sabotage mission, where the fuck was he?! The large Oni growled as he paused on a large central platform open to the sky, a certain feeling running along his skin… an old feeling, one he almost had forgotten…

A wide fanged grin spread on the old Oni’s face as he recognized that feeling, it was the same as the one he had when he faced off against his father, taking the title ‘Raikage’ from the old bastard… making him proud as he ripped out the man’s fucking heart.

The clouds hanging heavy around the village seemed to rumble their approval and the great Oni could hardly argue.

From the main bridge leading to the Raikage’s Tower from the wide platform two figures approached, both large by any other village standard, but to the big Oni of a Raikage they were still small whelps to him. The first was his son, Gouzin Jinrai, named after his mother that died giving birth to him, those piercing small black eyes, that pitiful beard he was trying to grow, and the stupid jacket he had hanging off his shoulders. Really, the kid had no fashion sense, probably what happened when he didn’t have a mom to guide him.

“hmph,” behind his unruly son was his bastard, the boy a bit smaller but otherwise looking practically the same aside from the tattoo on his face. If it had been up to the Raikage he would have completely ignored the kid existed, but he made a fantastic Jinchuuriki, able to contain and control the damn Ushi-Oni like none before him, R&D still hadn’t given him any reason why that was… oh well, he may never know after today.

The burly older man simply crossed his arms, staring down his sons like nothing unusual was happening, “S’what’s this boy… a welcome home party?”

“Sumthin’ like that old man,” Jin gave that thuggish scowl, tilting his head in obvious threat, like he was a damn threat, Ha!! A dark tan hand reached out as the younger Oni pointed at his father, “Hand over the hat, your reign’s done!!”

It was quiet for a good long moment.

“HAHAHAHAHA!!” then the Raikage just stared laughing loudly to the heavens. His sons bristled and the large Oni turned his odd-colored eyes on them, a wicked grin showing off his fangs on his face, “You think so, huh?” he cracked his neck threatening, “And just why the hell would I _hand_ over anything?” the grin grew into a sneer, “You too much’a pussy to come and take it like a man?” the great Oni raised his hands, giving a ‘come on’ gesture to his sons.

Jin nearly snarled, gripping his fists tightly knowing his old man was trying to goad him into a brash attack. He spat the bad taste out of his mouth before staring at his father seriously again, “I ain’t gonna ask again old man.”

“feh,” the old Oni just crossed his arms, looking upon his sons as if they were insignificant, “We’re Kumo boy, we don’t **_ask_** anything…” that sinister grin spread showing those sharp canines as his odd colored eyes looked Jin right in his beady black ones, “We **_take_** it.”

Large fists gripped tighter, behind Jin Bee took a step back, feeling his older brother’s anger rise along with his chakra. Defiantly the young Oni glared at the old one.

The old Oni laughed again, “The hell got up your ass thinkin’ you can take my throne, huh?” that cocky evil smirk, “That bitch finally put out?” he made a rather derogatory gesture with his tongue that had Jin growling, “You feelin’ all high cause she finally got on your dick?”

Jin saw red, moving to lunge at the old bastard-!!

“Whoa Bro, chill!!” Bee held his brother around both shoulders, needing more strength then he realized to hold his brother back from a suicidal charge. Black goggles leveled with his brother’s dark eyes as he brought the young Oni’s attention to him, “Chill Bro, Sista’ wouldn’t want you rushin’ in all half-cocked jus’ta get clocked!!” his voice lowered as he leaned in closer, “ ‘Specially cause’a summin’ ‘bout her, yo,” the younger brother glanced over his shoulder, eyeing the old man through his goggles, “ ‘n you know he just tryin’ mess wit you…” he faced his brother again, noticing the man had calmed down some, “get you bustin’ to his beat without a head on ya shoulda’s…”

“You even more’a pussy boy?!” that old bastard’s boisterous voice called out to the brothers, “Gettin’ put down by that lil’ bastard, tch,” he spit, “not’ta mention hiding behind that little girl’s skirt…”

Jin pushed forward with a growl but Bee pushed him back in place, forcing him to notice him, “Chill bro!!”

The Raikage just smirked seeing the fire in his son, “What you got, huh?” he cocked his chin in a dismissive way, “That Jinchuuriki and that R&D reject? HA!” the large Oni’s hands waved out wide, “I got a whole **_VILLAGE_** backin’ me boy!!”

Jin put a hand on Bee’s shoulder, shoving the slightly smaller man out of the way just so he had a direct line of sight with his old man, “I only need them to support me old man, the village doesn’t give a damn which murdering bastard sits under the hat,” a slight smirk picked at the younger Oni’s lips, “and at least I got the balls to go after my opponent myself!!”

The smirk suddenly dropped from the old Raikage, an almost snarl taking its place, “The hell you talkin’ about boy…”

Beady black eyes narrowed on the man, “Thought I wouldn’t find out about your special order?” his shoulders rolled in an agitated way, “That you had those assassins lined up to take me out should I ever get ballsy enough to come after you?”

The Raikage didn’t move, not a single muscle and that was all the confirmation anyone needed. Jin growled as the old bastard just shrugged after a long second, “So? They’re my weapons; I can point them wherever I want…”

The younger blonde spit, “Not even gonna try are you…”

“Feh,” the older Oni just shrugged, obviously not seeing the problem here, “Kept your punkass in its place this long, what changed?” that sinister fanged grin returned, “You wanna test their patience? Figured you’d know all about just _how long_ they can wait…”

Jin gain a thuggish look, threatening but not attacking… then something familiar came over his senses and something white entered his peripheries. An unconscious grin spread on the young Oni’s face, he could always count on her.

Odd colored eyes narrowed as again the smirk slipped from the older Raikage’s face, “The fuck you smilin’ ‘bout boy?”

And smile he did, showing his own sharp canines, “Just the fact your one line of defense is gone…”

Those odd eyes narrowed… then the large Oni finally noticed the sudden white thing, now coated in red, “The fuck…?”

Satsuki was kneeling behind her Lord, slightly to the left as she erased any sign of weakness from her form, voice coming out in a smooth lilt, “All whom serve the Raikage are no more,” the woman’s white head rose just enough to stare daggers at the old Raikage, “You are free to act as you see fit my Lord.”

That triumphant grin never left Jin’s smug face, “Thank you Satsuki,” he shrugged off his jacket, stepping forward while cracking his knuckles knowing the woman would dutifully catch the thing before even a corner touched the ground, “Now, old man, I believe we had some _business_ to settle.”

The Raikage’s eyes went from his smug son cracking his neck to the small white woman behind him folding the idiot’s jacket and calming standing by the Jinchuuriki. The snarl was audible as he turned his gaze to stare at his son, “What a fucking waste…”

Jin rolled his shoulders, taking a grappler’s stance, “You said it yourself old man, they were just tools to you…”

The large man raised his fists, cracking his knuckles threatening, “Yea, **_my_** tools,” for a moment his eyes caught the small white woman again and he had that sinister smirk as he turned back to his son, “Guess they had gotten blunt,” the grin spread as he watched his son’s face, “Suppose I’ll just have send that sharp little blade of yours back to R &D and have them… _resupply_ … the losses.”

A wave of killing intent spread over the platform, though it was impossible to tell who it was from. The small white assassin was snarling at the old Raikage, held back only by the large Jinchuuriki next to her who was also frowning at the Raikage. But neither of their responses matched Jin’s; the moment his brain registered what his father was saying chakra ran across his skin, sparking as lightning danced between his fingers and the urge to rip off his father’s head increased.

The Raikage simply reveled in their responses, intoxicated by the feel of killing intent that actually registered to him. It had been so long. “HAHAHAHAHAHA!!” his hands went out forming light fists as his body reacted to the feel of being _threatened_ , instantly hardening at the anticipation of a fight. He just gave a snarling grin to his son, one last thing he supposed, to send the brat over the edge, “And you know what…” unconsciously he licked his lips, “I think I’ll help them,” that grin spread, “Find out what she feels like on the inside,” the looks that passed their faces were priceless as the man just laughed again, “HAHAHA, Maybe then I’ll get a son that’s not afraid to kill!!”

There was a flash of lightning as a bolt ominously struck in the center of the platform, punching right through it…

It didn’t matter, as Jin was seeing red, having charged at his father the moment the lightning struck. His natural chakra danced along his body, sending his muscles into overdrive and giving the large Oni a burst of speed even the lightning couldn’t keep up with.

His fist connected with the side of his father’s face, sending out a sonic boom that ripped through the platform…

The first blow had been struck.

… and the Raikage could only grin, “That all you got?” before sending his own chakra enhanced fist into Jin’s stomach, threatening to punch a hole right through him.

The younger Oni simply growled, tightening the muscles in his abdomen to take the blow as he went after his old man with his other fist. The older Oni just raised his shoulder, catching the fist between his ear and shoulder, using the second of lost moment on his son’s part to draw up his other arm and elbow him in the face, sending the fool off through several buildings…

The older Oni just grunted, chasing after his son… their fight was only just beginning.

\-----

“Shiiiiiiiit!!” Bee grabbed Satsuki and jumped away to another building, cutting the bridge lines as the platform started collapsing to prevent the entire system from going with it. The Hachibi Jinchuuriki hopped several terraces, holding on as tight as he could as a cacophony of sonic booms shook the entire village.

And to make matters worse, the rain finally started.

“Bee!!” the smaller white woman called from his arm.

“Sista’!!” the big rapper-wannabe glanced down mid-scaling, thinking the woman was going to complain about the indignity of being carried under his arm, instead he saw her eyes focused in one solitary direction.

“Get closer, with nothing in the way!!” a pale hand pointed in one direction, slightly to the right and through the building he was scaling… directly towards the vibrant sonic booms.

Small blonde brows quirked for a second over black goggles as the large man hoofed it faster to the top of the building. Once there Statsuki removed herself from his grasp, running to the far end of the roof that had a small fencing. The woman gripped the metal tight enough he could hear it start to bend as her grey eyes remained open, irises darting this way and that in a way he couldn’t follow and not once did she blink.

“Sista’?” Bee came up by her side, just as she tensed, despite the rain he could hear her teeth clinch as well as the metal give a bit more, “You followin’ bro?” the older woman always had some crazy abilities, and while no one could really keep up with his brother when he was going all out for some reason the idea that the small white woman next to him could follow his movements didn’t surprise him as much as it probably should have.

“Mm,” she nodded firmly, never looking his way or blinking despite the rain. A particularly large sonic boom hit not far from them and Bee could see her wince, “Yes, Bee… I can follow him…”

“Mmmm…” the large man crossed his arms, staring the way she was, trying to catch what she was seeing. He could follow the sonic booms and the destruction, but beyond that was only a blur, and the damn rain wasn’t helping, “Tch, he better be doin’ alright, else they gunna bust up the village for no damn reason…”

“He’s leading the Raikage away,” the white assassin could feel as the large Jinchuuriki turned her way, that surprised pout on his face with his small blonde brows twitching like he was blinking. A small, worried, smile picked up on the side of her lips, “He wouldn’t be taking such a beating without a plan first…”

That pouting scowl passed Bee’s face as he grumbled, “An’ I thought the foo’ was just goin’ gung-ho caus’a yo…” the moment Bee’s words made it to his brain his shoulders went to his ears as he realized he probably shouldn’t have said that.

The next instant Satsuki gripped the fence… then vaulted over it and was literally sliding down the building, jumping to the next, next, and further on.

“Aw hell!!” Bee called out, “Wait!! Sista’ I didn’t- shit!!” immediately the Jinchuuriki jumped over the building’s small fence, landing on the side roof of one part and vaulting off chasing after her, quickly catching up.

“You’re getting slow, they’re almost to the edge of the village,” the small woman sniped the moment he was next to her, causing the man to grumble as they hopped roofs, bridges and cables to follow the line of destruction the two battling Oni caused.

“Hmp!!” Bee huffed, running alongside her. He could feel the direction the chakra was heading, as well as the various other chakra signatures ‘waking up’ in the village. If they didn’t hurry ANBU might get involved and then their little Coup might end up a total failure. “SHIT!!” immediately Bee’s hands went together as the two ran and he started channeling the Hachibi’s chakra, “Hachi, you up!!” the dark skinned man grinned with those long canines as he effortlessly formed the chakra cloak of the eight tails Ushi-Oni. Horns of chakra grew out of the man’s head along with five tentacle-like tails from the base of his spine. After a long series of hand seals the tails split off, forming chakra imbued clones of the Hachibi-container as the original once again grabbed the small woman by his side and kicked off at several times their previous speed.

Satsuki merely growled from her position, “Was that really necessary?” she never liked the feel of Bee’s demon chakra… it just sent an uncomfortable tingly sensation under her skin and brought back bad memories she’d rather keep buried, but years around Jin’s younger brother had lower the sensation from a need to ‘kill’ the man to mildly annoying.

Those elongated canines showed as the chakra cloaked man grinned widely, “You was complainin’ we goin’ too slow, Sista’~” his grin dropped when he faced forward, a somewhat serious look crossing his face, “ ‘sides, like this I don’t need you guidin’ me… I can see them already…”

The white woman simply nodded, “I take it your clones will handle anything else from the village?”

Again with that stupid grin, “Hell they’ll be too distracted by the sudden demon chakra to care ‘bout our boy doin’ his thing~”

“Mm,” a blank look came over the woman’s face as she scanned the area; they’d left the city limits and were in the rocky training grounds. She could still feel the sonic booms of the two Oni fighting, just couldn’t _see_ anything and it was bothering her, “So… no rapping?” it was an idle observation, something to just end the silence.

“Hmp,” she knew the man was pouting, he always did when she pointed out his tendency to try and rap everything, “Ain’t really the time fo’ a rhyme…”

“Internal,” the stupid exchange caused a small smile to tug at her lips, which was immediately brought down into a sad frown as the weight of the situation sunk into the silence around them, “Bee, if your father wins…”

“He ain’t…” was the Hachibi-container’s quick response.

“If he does,” she said with enough force to halt any protest, “I… I won’t be able to deny any command he gives… I’ll have to… he’ll… he’ll be my-” the woman bite her lower lip as an unconscious tremble went through her body.

“He ain’t…” Bee adamantly said again, not liking feeling the strong woman in his arms tremble like that, it wasn’t right, “Bro’ll beat him…” he could only feel the woman give a firm nod.

Silence picked up around them again as they made it to a plateau that seemed close enough to the fight. Bee ran to the edge and spotted the two Oni charged up fully and duking it out in full force on a smaller plateau below that seemed to have been made by their fighting. Immediately he set the smaller woman down and lowered his Hachibi aura, not fully dissipating it as he couldn’t follow the fight without the sensory enhancements.

“Bee,” Satsuki said in a low voice as she crossed her arms, nervously running her hands over her upper arms, her eyes finding the fight and never looking away, “Kill me if he fails…”

Bee could only frown, having no words to say. Without thinking his hand reached out and gripped around the woman’s smaller shoulder, she didn’t tense but he could feel her tremble, worried for their future, worried about him, but mostly worried about his brother. His thumb ran along the upper part of her arm as he spoke in a low serious voice, “He won’t fail…” – _He’s never failed me… and especially not you_ -

A pale hand raised enough to grab the larger man’s hand, hoping he was right.

“Besides,” a hopeful grin spread across the Jinchuuriki’s face as he held his friend tight, “Old man may got’ta strongest spear and strongest shield, but bro’s got the one thing that can always bust’em both!!” gray eyes glanced at the man, both of them knowing he was just being hopeful in a situation all too real for either of them, but the way those grey eyes looked at him, the _need_ for something to hold on to, pushed Bee forward, he had to say, had to give her a reason to think past this fight, “Cause bro’s got the hammer, an’ ain’t nuthin’ can stand up to his strike, sho’!!” with his free hand Bee pumped his fist.

Against her will, a smirk rose on the pale woman’s lips as her grey eyes turned back to the fight, desperately hoping Bee was right…

\-----

Another thunder strike, another fist, another sonic boom, another explosion of sound, sense, and loss of all the above…

Jin’s eyes spun as his father’s knee hit him full in the face…

A second for the two battling Oni was a fraction of time in the ‘real world’, the one where the village existed, the one where his brother made those stupid rhymes, where-

This time it was an elbow drop on his shoulder, the pain barely registered as the jumping electricity along his skin kept his muscles flexed to their maximum, maintaining a shield of pure flesh that didn’t bow even when his bones were little more than powder…

He reached out in a grapple and instinct as his mind was gone long ago, lost in the fight of flesh as hard as steel and lightning…

Hands like iron gripped muscles like steel as the young Oni roared, moving to snap his father’s arm…

Another chakra imbued fist was hitting the back of his head, another roar as the blood pumping behind his eyes distorted his vision…

It didn’t matter, he didn’t need to see, his lightning showed him where to go, what to do, how to move… instinct was the most powerful weapon he had next pure brute strength…

An inch and his father’s lightning quick hand would have pierced his heart; instead it scrapped the side of his chest, exposing ribs, flesh, blood and bone…

His fist came in an explosive force directly over the old man’s heart, where that scar was, the old Oni’s greatest shame and for a moment the hardened muscle underneath stopped…

Pure impact…

The younger Oni followed up with a devastating headbutt, fracturing both their already cracked skulls and setting both seeing stars from internal damage…

Jin pressed forward, moving on pure instinct and will, used to pushing his body far beyond what it should have been capable of, beyond what any human was capable of doing and surviving, his muscles were wound steel, his bones broken and reset so many times they were adamantium…

An entire electrified weapon designed to do nothing but inflict and survive pure impact…

His father’s body had been hardened years ago, no blade could pierce it, no weapon could scrap it, not even the loose Hachibi could gore the old bastard… many saw the Third Raikage’s body as the perfection of physical defense, a body incapable of being pierced, even by his own ultimate spear…

What people fail to realize…

No shield is a perfect defense… at some point it will always give, even to something as blunt as a rock with enough force…

Jin had spent his whole life studying his father’s technique, his ‘perfect’ Juggernaut Armor and ultimate piercing strikes… he learned to be fast and to be strong, to hit with an overwhelming force that could **_crush_** anything, **_ANYTHING_** that got in his way. He was faster than his father, as the man never _needed_ to chase, pursue, or dodge, so he could dodge and evade his piercing strikes, limiting the damage to a minimum. His body was used to pain, used to knowing he was hurt, unlike the old man that could barely feel anymore… as ‘feeling’ was for the weak…

As the young Oni bashed and bashed and bashed at the old man’s chest, pushing the ultimate shield to its limit and bursting organs with pure impact damage, he knew his father was weak for giving up something so inherently instinctive…

Pain told when one was in danger, it allowed one to react and recognize what was around them, to fix what was broken…

The Old Oni’s body was so hardened, so impervious it had forgotten was a scratch was, it had forgotten what internal bleeding felt like, it had long since missed the feel of anything ‘wrong’ within due to its pursuit of keeping everything out.

For a moment in real time, the Third Raikage stepped back and coughed up blood…

As the old man paused to touch the unfamiliar feeling on his lip, the warm black liquid he pulled back on his large fingers he realized at least one of his lungs had ruptured and his heart was barely pumping anymore…

Normally, when an animal is wounded it becomes terrified and lashes out in violence due to a slight madness brought on by the concept it is about to die…

Instead the Third Raikage grinned, snarling something wicked and cruel as his odd colored eyes took in the sorry state of his son, singed, burned, muscles about to burst with so many punctures on his sides as he stared back at the blood on his hand…

And laughed.

“That it?” a massive arm ran across the man’s face, wiping away the rest of the blood as he stood tall, proud and smug even if he knew half his body had long since given up. He spat out a chunk of bone, probably a tooth, along with enough black blood to be obvious while still grinning at his son, “That all you got? Throw a tantrum and smash everything in sight?”

It was amazing anything of Jin’s conscious mind was left in the young Oni as it growled and seethed, hands nothing but tight fists as lightning danced across his skin, over flexed muscle the only thing keeping him standing…

 The old Oni reached a hand in his mouth and pulled out a scrap of tooth, tossing it over the edge as he could feel the unfamiliar rhythm in his chest, some cavity of his heart was ruptured and it wouldn’t be all that long. He looked at the feral creature that was his son in full battle frenzy, partly proud, partly sad, “You got the balls to finish the job boy…?”

A reverberation that sounded like low thunder came from the young Oni…

Odd eyes glanced away, realizing how far from the village their brawl had taken them, only two witnesses apparently having followed them. Part of the old man smiled, of course it was those two, “I told you what I’d do if you didn’t kill me…” he glanced back serious over his shoulder, intending every word.

The growl lessened as lightning covered fists shook, “Why…”

A brow cocked on the old Oni.

“ ** _WHY?!_** ” Jin roared to the heavens.

“Why what?” the Raikage was oddly calm for a man about to die.

Jin ground his teeth as he snarled out, “Why does it have to **_BE_** this way?!” covered in blood, sweat and tears he stared at his father. During their fight, their brutal exchange of blows he had felt so many things, realized to much so fast his mind was still trying to find its place.

“Hmp,” the Raikage dismissively snorted, “We’re Kumo, that’s why…”

“ARAGH!!” Jin roared, “What does it matter? I kill you, same as you killed your father? Same as he killed his all the way back to the founding?!” the mighty Oni wanted nothing but to hit something, smash mountains into rubble and throw lightning into the sky.

“It’s to prove you have the _right!_ ” for once the Raikage’s voice was stern without the condescending sneer. Surprise passed Jin’s face as he faced his father, those odd eyes finally looking at him for once as the man continued, “It’s to prove you are better than the generation before you,” with what strength the man had left he held out a fist, strong and proud, “To prove you have the strength to carry on until the next one…”

Teeth clinched, face furrowed, all that was running around in Jin’s mind was finally starting to make sense, “It doesn’t have to **_be_** this way!!”

“OR WHAT?!” the old Oni roared, “You let me live, lock me away where my supporters can get me and I can retaliate, so I can come back and damage this village more!!”

Small black eyes widen at his father’s threat.

Another growl from the dying Oni, “Man up boy,” grey blonde brows lower as the man looked upon his son completely serious, “Be the Raikage, take what is yours,” again he held up his hand, tightening it into a fist, “and ensure nothing can take it from you until the day your son comes around and thinks he’s got the balls to do what must be done to ensure his future!!”

That was it.

It all finally made sense.

Jin stared at his father as he could finally see; finally understand the man in front of him. The reason, the _true_ reason the line of Raikage had been in his family only, why his father had pushed him so hard and threatened his very existence from day one.

He had wanted him strong.

Kumo wasn’t soft like Konoha, weak like Kiri, stagnant like Iwa, and dying like Suna. It was alive and breathing and fighting for its future, and would remain as such.

Kumo was willing to die for the future, to ensure it existed, the village continued, the next generation was stronger than the last…

The Raikage had to be willing to wipe out the previous generation to ensure that future…

The Raikage had to be willing to shoulder the pain, strong enough to keep fighting, and willing to die when the next came around strong enough…

For the first time in his entire life, Jin felt his father loved him.

The former Raikage grinned, seeing his son understand; “Now c’mon boy,” he held out his fist, “Don’t make me lose faith in you at the last second…”

With a tumultuous roar Jin released every bit of chakra he had, lightning jumped from the clouds surrounding him, invading his body as he gave over completely to the Oni’s rage. With unseeing eyes, rage, raw power, lightning, and everything he had ever felt for the man throughout his entire light he disappeared…

… only to show back up with his fist through his father’s chest.

The ultimate shield had been broken, the ultimate spear abandoned, as the last thing the Third Raikage did was smile at his son for finally beating him.

…

..

.

The following silence was deafening as the Oni finally let go of his power, his father’s corpse falling from his arm, blood pulsing and running along his body, but all he could feel were the tears running down his cut cheeks…

Jin collapsed, mind completely blank, his body broken and bleeding from the struggle.

Almost instantly strong small hands were turning him over and his unseeing eyes caught only white. She was probably saying something as what felt cold was pressed to his cheek, ignoring the blood, ignoring the tears…

For a moment he just stared at her, something crossing her pale face he knew but couldn’t understand, not now, not ever… it made his chest clinch and the pain of what just happened come flooding back…

\----

“Never…”

The voice was so low and so broken Satsuki barely heard it, too preoccupied with taking assessment of her Lord’s wounds… and the spreading excitement that he had actually won.

“… n-never…”

She noticed his chest hiccupped; he had several scraps on his sides where his father had attempted to pierce his heart but missed by the smallest of margin. It was this motion that caught her attention…

“N-nn…” his large hand moved with exceptionally more effort than it should have taken.

Grey eyes noticed the movement, glancing at his hand before returning to his face all banged up, bruised and bleeding. At first she had purposely ignored his face, some part of her recognizing the tears on his face and giving him the respect to not witness them, it was her duty to maintain her Lord’s pride after all.

But the look on his face, the absolutely raw nature in his small black eyes…

“Never… again…”

White brows rose slightly concerned as she stared at him, never moving as his large hand took an exceptionally long time to rise and make its way to her cheek.

For a moment small black eyes just vacantly stared into concerned grey ones as his dark thumb rubbed across her pale face…

“My Lord?” her soft concerned voice, coupled with a small pale hand reached up to cup his own, brought some focus back to the downed Oni’s eyes. His thumb ran under her eye again and Satsuki wasn’t sure how to interpret the look on his face or the action…

Then his eyes seemed to gain enough sense to them and he finally spoke…

“I never want to have kids…”

The pale woman froze, eyes wide on her Lord.

Something pinched at the sides of Jin’s eyes as they started to unfocus again, “Never…” his hand slipped from her pale face, “Never want to… put them through… that…”

She tried to grab his arm as the appendage slipped away in shock, “But my Lord-!!”

“BUT WHAT?!” he yelled, hand forming into a fist as he pulled it from her concerned one, eyes still unfocused as the downed Oni quickly lost all fire, “But what…?” tears fell from his eyes as tiny black eyes stared at the cloudy grey sky above, “continue generations of patricide? Force my child to suffer this lingering hatred…” his teeth ground as his voice lowered to the point only Satsuki could hear, “… never allow them to truly understand that I love them…” his jaw clinched tighter along with his fists at his sides, “until the end…”

Silence was his only response as Satsuki tried to understand his words. They struck her, deep down in a way she couldn’t understand or unravel at the moment and she tried to keep focus on her Lord… she needed to see him safe, see he was okay, see-

“The village…” his eyes were getting more unfocused, “the village will live on after me, its… its…” his hands went lax, his muscles finally giving to fatigue, “Its Kumo…  its strong…” and his eyes closed, finally succumbing to the fatigue of his injuries.

Satsuki trembled as she stared at the man unconscious in her lap, mind completely blank. Logically she knew his words shouldn’t concern her, he was her Lord, her chosen master, the only thing that should matter to her was his life, not that of his lineage or legacy.

But something broke inside Satsuki as she watched him… something she didn’t even know was there…

Was it truly so worthless? Everything she had done to protect him, all she would do to protect him?

Her shoulder was shaking as Bee placed his hand on it. Looking at the two of them was painful enough, now seeing his brother, watching his Sista’ tremble, feeling it through his hand, it was almost unbearable.

“Bee,” how flat her voice was made it significantly worse, “Watch him.”

The large Jinchuuriki could only nod. She never, **_NEVER_** left the man unguarded… but now? There was nothing he could say, only nod as she disappeared.

\-----

It seemed with the conclusion of the fight the only sound left in the world was the rain.

The fighting had stopped immediately, both in the village and outside as the Hachibi clones had immediately dispersed allowing the ANBU forces to search out the Raikage’s presence, some realizing the distinct _lack_ of a certain Oni’s raw chakra. Some citizens were left to pick up the pieces, a few short hours and a surprising amount of damage had befallen the Village Hidden in the Clouds, most at the hands of one person…

Despite the rain pattering endlessly on the deck, Reki noticed the sudden shift immediately, the absence of sound, of presence, just the sudden entrance. Black eyes hazily rose from her position, having huddled around the body of her dead lover the whole time, not registering a thing.

Until she saw the blank form of a woman she should hate.

Satsuki was standing several feet from her, just _standing_ there as if staring… only her grey eyes were completely unfocused and nothing passed her face.

Something about the look sparked recognition in the torture expert, it was the look of someone broken…

 _That_ awoke something in the older woman as the moment the pale white woman’s knees hit the ground Reki was in front of her, dead lover abandoned as she held the girl’s shoulders trying to steady her, “H-hey Satsu-” the woman buckled under the dead weight, as if the girl had just shut down. Without thinking black eyes scanned her, looking for any wound, some bruise, a sign that somewhere she had been injured to explain the dead look on her face.

There was nothing…

Tan hands moved up to the younger woman’s pale face, holding her dead gaze with concerned black eyes, “Satsuki!!” a resounding slap across the girl’s face didn’t even garner a movement, it was as if she was completely dead.

Reki’s hands went to the girl’s throat, pressing her thumbs to her carotid artiries, a motion few would allow as it was the easiest way to strangle someone besides checking their pulse. It was still there, her heart was still moving but why wasn’t she responsive? Black brows furrowed as Reki forced the last assassin to look her in the eyes, debating if she should use her eyes to snap the girl she once knew out of whatever was going on…

Then a pale hand moved, gripped the older woman’s arm firmly as a spark returned, a flash of something in those dull grey eyes.

Reki had a moment to glance at the rough grip before returning to the woman’s eyes, something cold and lifeless still there but it was anything but dead, “Satsu-?”

The white woman removed the older jounin’s arm, rising to her feet and not even sparing a glance as she briskly walked away, mechanically as if nothing had occurred.

It would take Reki years to realize, but the girl she once knew, the one she had taken into her care and in some sense helped raise and abandoned… that girl was dead and she had just watched her die in her own arms. What had just gotten up and walked away from her as if nothing had happened wasn’t human, just a pure killing machine in human form…

\----

_“Never… again…”_

- _Why…_ -

It was the only question running through Satsuki’s mind and she had no idea why.

Her Lord had won, he was the Raikage, she would not be sent back to R&D, would not be used by his father, would not be looked down upon by the clan anymore…

They were gone… no one to stop her, to regulate her, to tell her what was what anymore except him, because he was her Lord.

But he did not need her either…

In some logical part of her mind she recognized her Lord would need to propagate for the future of his lineage, to continue the legacy of his blood and title. She had decided to be there to judge whomever he chose to be his mate, to ensure he would have a worthy successor and excellent opponent in the future… as well as someone capable of either killing her or being a worthy master after her Lord. If no worthy spouse could be chosen she had been willing to offer herself for her Lord’s use, after all a man such as him needed a worthy successor and she would not disappoint him. She was the strongest of her clan, obviously…

 _“I never want to have kids…_ ”

… but then he’d said that, and part of her did not understand.

He had won.

He beat his father, he was free to do as he wanted, pursue who and what he wanted, no one in the village could literally stop him, both physically and politically now.

Why would he say that?

Why would he give up a future…?

One they’d all fought so hard for… one **_she_** had fought so hard for… nearly killing herself to wipe out her clan, to stop them from killing him, from laying a hand on him, from doing him any harm!! Didn’t he know!! Didn’t he understand!!

… no.

No.

… She was no one, they all were, always had been. They did not have desires, did not have ambitions, did not wish or dream of anything beyond what they were…

He did not need a judge, did not need a consort, did not need any of that… did not want it…

No.

He only needed someone to watch him, to ensure his life as long as he desired it.

He only needed someone to remove his enemies.

He only needed a blade.

He only needed an Assassin.

…

..

.

Then she would only **_be_** an Assassin.

\-----

Several days later, after the village was fixed and the news of the former Raikage’s death and his son’s ascension, Gouzin Jinrai, the Yondaime Raikage, opened his eyes.

He saw the familiar white ceiling of the Kumo General Hospital… and he couldn’t move. A quick glance showed most of his body was wrapped in a cast, covered in healing seals, and if his nose wasn’t wrong soaked in salves.

“Your injuries should be fully healed within the week, Lord Raikage,” a stern, low, almost mechanical voice spoke next to him.

A glance and he saw mostly black, grey, and white, “Satsu-” the large man growled, it hurt to speak, his throat dry from obviously being incapacitated for however many days. It was a mild comfort knowing she was there looking over him. As the woman stepped forward, seeming to examine him, the large immobile Oni noticed there was something wrong with her eyes. They had always been sharp and hard, usually to anyone she was trying to intimidate, but there had always been something behind them that was open to him, something he didn’t realize was there until this moment, now that they were so empty.

“Killer Bee and I have been handling the transition in the village,” her voice was cold, clipped, barely anything about it recognizable from the woman that followed him into battle, “It seemed prudent to inform the village of the deaths and provide a supplemental reasoning for it…”

“W-why?” his voice was hoarse, rough and agitated, wondering why she had not offered him a drink.

Those sharp daggers of eyes shifted to his and there was nothing there he recognized, “They needed to understand the power you wield.” Her words were cold and it took a moment for him to realize she meant the people she had killed to protect him, the extent of the clan she had wiped out in his name.

He swallowed hard, more for his dry throat then any kind of disturbance. It was important he establish power quickly now that he had killed his father, become the Raikage, it seemed his assassin had seen fit to do so in his absence. She and his brother were ensuring his life while he recovered, threatening anyone that would deny his claim and showing his power while he was incapacitated. Cruel, but effective.

With a mild cough to get something to go down his throat he stared at her sharper eyes, “Anything… else?”

“Yes,” her voice was clipped as she seemed to just stare, “You will refer to me as solely ‘Kemui’ from now on,” she abruptly turned to leave and he noticed her thin braids, all **_three_** of them, “You are the Raikage now, it would be inappropriate to refer to each other so informally…” her hand was on the door before he had a chance to respond.

“Satsuki?!” small blonde brows furrowed and everything ached as he tried to turn to her, desperate to move towards and grasp what she meant.

She didn’t turn around, only said one word, “Kemui,” before opening the door and exiting, her three braids trailing behind her.

As the door clicked closed, Jin lost all resistance, laying his head back on the pillows holding him up as the rest of his body succumbed to the numbing salves. – _What just happened?_ \- he barely remembered the end of the fight, just the pain he felt at his father… the bastard, showing his love at the moment of his death, what a jerk… he had hurt so much, all over, both physically and emotionally and probably said something to her. She had been there to make sure he was alive, like always, she had seemed normal, grateful… something happened right? Was it something he said?

The large Oni shook his head as best he could, figuring he should rest, leave the rest to those he trusted to do their jobs while he recovered. His comrade’s strange behavior still bothered him, but it was probably just the stress… that had to be it right?

For a moment, even though he had won, gained everything he had worked so hard to achieve, Jin felt he had lost something important along the way…

\-----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope to hear more from you guys that wonder over here~ anyway, have fun~
> 
> Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!!  
> -Ikasury


	2. I am NOT Uchiha!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During the Fourth Shinobi War, Reki gets in a fight with Uchiha Madara, and BOY does she have a lot to say to her 'esteemed' ancestor...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Non-Canon - would take place during the time the Five Kage are fighting Madara, wrote at the point that was coming out because his Trolly-ness was pissing me off...
> 
> Uchiha-hax, meet Uchiha-anti-hax...

Crazy don’t crack it…

_“The day I die is a long way from here, in a bed when I’m too old, weak and decrepit to take care of myself. I’ll pass away quietly on this side, but the moment I set foot on the other side Death will be there, waiting to start yelling at me about why the hell it took so damn long…”_

_xXx_

“Gakushin-san,” a member of the communications squad stumbled his way up the small ridge where a woman with long black hair stood observing the war going on below. The courier came up behind her, breathing hard with his hands on his knees, “Report on new developments of enemy movements!”

The black haired woman grunted, “Reki or Taichou, don’t call me ‘Gakushin-san’ it makes me sound old,” the woman turned to the hunched courier with her flat red and black eyes. The man paled a moment, staring into those eyes, eyes that were _supposed_ to only belong to the enemy. Well, technically this woman ‘was’ an enemy since he was from Iwa and unlike the others in the ‘Shinobi Alliance’ still proudly wore her Kumo Hitea-ate around her neck. Reki gave him a tight, almost bored looking if it weren’t scary thanks to the sharingan frown, “What? I’m only 46…”

The courier just gave her a perfect ‘WTF?!’ look.

Sharingan eyes rolled as she turned fully to the man, revealing the giant Tessen with chain she had between her hands, the ‘frown’ still on her face, “You wanted to _tell_ me something?”

“U-uh,” the man gulped, shakily handing her a note which she took with ease and started skimming, “Latest news has it that Uchiha Madara has made his appearance…”

Her frown deepened, “What the hell,” the woman crushed the piece of paper and tossed it behind her and started descending the hill, “I thought Madara was that masked psycho… now this?”

The courier could only fumble with a nod as he turned to follow her a step behind, “Y-yes, that was the assumption, but an Edo Tensei version of him has appeared, the Kage have engaged…”

At that Reki stopped, her frown deepening, “Its times like this I wish I had a cigarette…” she said flatly, glancing at the man, her sharingan causing him to flinch as it looked like it was starting to shift, “Tell whoever’s left here to take charge, and send word to the Kage they better find something better to do,” the black haired captain turned away, but not before the courier caught the growing sadistic grin on her face, “I’ve got a dear ancestor to talk to…”

xXx

Uchiha Madara stood atop his Susano’o with his petulant flat stare, highly unimpressed with those this generation called ‘the greatest’. The tall man with his long unruly hair and ancient armor just crossed his arms, Rinnegan just starting, “This is disappointing…”

The Kage grunted, growled, did whatever they could to stand and be defiant in the face of the ancient warrior. It really just made them look like squirming worms to him. The ancient Uchiha just shook his head.

“This is all this generation has to offer?” imperceptible from the Kages’ vantage his eyes narrowed, “I fought the Shodai for **_days_** , we completely reshaped the environment,” he turned his head and looked around at the so _little_ damage wrought in this fight, “ _This_ is all you are capable of?” again his eyes narrowed, disappointed at the struggling Kage, “I expected more,” his eyes took in Tsunade, “Especially from you, so pathetic you are nothing close to your grandfather,” he ignored the woman’s glare and fury moving to the next on his ‘list’, “And Oonoki, you were a child in my day, but your old age has deteriorated your abilities,” the familiar Uchiha smug-grin came to the ancients face, “Or were you never that much to begin with?” he watched them flail, anger rising, clouding their actions, and he shouldn’t have found it so amusing, but…

His Rinnegan eyes turned to the other three Kage, all children to him, all more pathetic, “As for the rest of you-”

Whatever Uchiha Madara was about to say was lost to the wind as out of nowhere something large and sharp cut through his neck and sent his head flying just the smallest bit, his Rinnegan going wide for only a moment in what was either ‘surprise’ or ‘amusement’ was anyone’s guess. As the Kage down below blinked, trying to register what just happened, something slammed into the ancient Uchiha’s back and sent it off the shoulder of the giant Susano’o, it took a second to register to what was happening but soon enough it was easy to see someone was standing on the ancient Uchiha’s body and seemed to be ridding it the various feet down until it slammed hard enough to cause a creator and kick up a cloud of dust. With its master currently ‘incapacitated’ the Susano’o roared and fell over in the opposite direction, seemingly confused without direct command, course everyone was hopping it’d just disappear but nothing ever went as one would normally assume when it came to Uchiha.

As the dust settled the Kage got a good look at the person that had just Dynamic Entry: Decapitation styled the most ancient of Uchiha.

It was a woman, relatively older though nothing about her said she was incapable, and after that display no one would ever say so. She straw sandals she was happily cramming into the decapitated flaky body’s back, with black male kimono pants revealing nothing underneath as her left hip bore a black tribal tattoo that matched one on her right shoulder, tied off with white rope, and a triangular over-the-right-shoulder vest over a gunmetal sleeveless shirt. Her Kumo Hitae-ate hung proudly around her neck and her long black bangs obscured her face but they all knew what was there, she and her ‘bastard clan’ had been all too proud to show off Kumo’s long kept secret. There was a vicious grin on her face as she brought up the giant closed folding fan and slammed it down on the neck that was trying to reform of her Edo Tensei ancestor, the action revealing her red and black eyes, only this time the other Kage were shocked to see it was the ‘normal’ Mitsudomoe, but a conjunction of four small circles in a triangle pattern, surrounded by a triangle surrounded by a circle-like pattern divided in three with smaller circles in each section.

“Tch,” Reki kicked the twitching body, “Why do these sonsabitchs always have to go on long rants?” her red and black eyes raised to look at the Kage, “Sorry to interrupt, but I have some… _things_ to discuss with this jerk,” she pulled her fan out of ground by the ring only to slam it into the body again in a move that _would_ normally break someone’s spine.

None of the Kage flinched, just watching, though both the Raikage and Hokage were frowning, but for different reasons.

“The Mangekyou?” Tsunade turned angry amber eyes on the large dark skinned oni of a man, “You not only have Uchiha, but you have the MANGEKYOU TOO!!”

The next thing the blonde woman knew there was a giant fan crashing into the ground at her feet, it was a warning shot and everyone knew it.

“Reki,” the Raikage said lowly in a threatening voice, but all the leaders of the village turned on the woman only to see her Mangekyou Sharingan glaring narrowly at the blonde.

“I. am. **_NOT_**. Uchiha!!” the black haired woman growled, pulling the chain to withdraw her fan…

“Could have fooled me,” everyone turned around to see the ancient Uchiha Madara standing with his arms crossed and face placid as if he handed just been decapitated and body surfed over a hundred feet.

No one present looked particularly surprised. Reki just glared at the dead man as the body under her feet crumbled into dirt revealing an earth substitute.

The man crossed his arms and tilted his head, Rinnegan eyes solely on his apparent progeny, “Did you honestly think that would work?”

“No,” the woman drew out her giant fan, cracked her neck as her Mangekyou eyes never left her ancestor, “Not that it didn’t feel good curb-stomping your body and cutting off your head,” the wide grin she gave was something so twisted and cruel the other Kage were surprised, since they’d only seen the woman as fiery and generally good natured. How little they knew Gakushin Reki.

“Hn,” the elder Uchiha scoffed, rolling his shoulder, “I’ll give you I was surprised,” a minute frown formed on his lips as his eyes narrowed a fraction that if it weren’t for Reki’s bastard eyes she wouldn’t have caught, “that someone of my blood would be so ignorant to attack in such a brutish manner…”

Reki’s sadistic grin spread, “so glad to disappoint…”

The Kage behind the bastard shifted, ready to attack.

Both sharingan users just glared at them flatly with mimicking frowns, “Get lost.” “Fuck off!!” they said in unison.

“Reki!!” the Raikage yelled, angry that his own subordinate would tell him to go ‘Fuck off!!’, not to mention being brushed aside like the rest of the Kage by the ancient Uchiha.

The black haired woman turned back to the man in red armor, “Sorry, Raikage-sama, but it’s me and him from here on out…”

“You can’t fight him by yourself!!” oddly, it was the Mizukage that voiced this, she was all for powerful konoichi showing up ninja, but this wasn’t a moment for anyone’s pride.

“The Mizukage’s right,” the Kazekage spoke calmly, “We need to contain and seal him…”

“Forget that,” the Tsuchikage grumbled, “Girl’s nuts, five Kage have a hard time with him and she thinks she can compare to **_Him_** …”

“She has something we don’t,” Tsunade, the Hokage frowned, she hated to admit it, but the woman in front of them had more of a chance than them for one single reason, “She has the Mangekyou Sharingan,” the medic grit her teeth, hating to learn another village had something that was supposed to be theirs but it gave them an opportunity, “She has a better chance of following his movements and taking him head-on without having to worry about his eye techniques like we do,” the blonde turned to the larger Raikage with a mild glare, “If we use her to fight him first, we can observe, wait for an appropriate moment to seal him…”

The Raikage only frowned, “She won’t accept that,” he looked at the black haired woman in front of him, the former T&I captain and the woman that taught Kemui a number of things, even Yorihi had learned from her. As a teacher and a torture expert she retained a calmness that was scary, but in combat sanity was one of the first things to go, “Go all out Reki, when you die it’s up to us, understand!!”

Reki waved her hand back lazily, “You know me Raikage-sama,” her grin spread as Madara looked at her with the closest thing he probably had to curiosity, “I never die…”

The large behemoth of a man only gave a curt nod before disappearing. The other four Kage looked confused a moment before following the man, Tsunade was the last. She stood a moment glaring at Madara before glaring at ‘Reki’s’ back, “He won’t die, you will and I won’t be able to stop to help you…”

Again the woman gave a lackadaisical shrug, “like I said, Hokage-sama,” a Mangekyou eye stared at the blonde over her shoulder, “I never die,” she turned back to Madara, “Go worry about healing people…”

Tsunade only frowned at the foolish woman but left from the immediate area all the same, if Madara was ‘distracted’ by this woman it gave the Kage time to plan, prepare, and regain their strength.

“That was droll,” the ancient undead said flatly.

“Eh,” Reki gave another ‘I don’t care’ shrug.

Madara’s Rinnegan zeroed on the woman, he was having a hard time accepting she was one of his blood, with her attitude and seeming bi-polar boredom, “I am only letting them leave because I’m curious what an Uchiha of this generation can do?”

“Like I said to the Hokage,” Reki closed her eyes as she drew a cigarette and lighter, putting it to her lips and setting on fire, “I’m **_NOT_** an Uchiha,” her eyes narrowly glared at the man in front of her as she stashed her lighter, “Aside from one particularly annoying pain in the ass, those fuckers are all dead…”

“Hn,” oddly Madara stared at the cigarette, to think one of his descendants would have such a debilitating habit, “Suppose so,” then his Rinnegan returned to her Mangekyou, “But that doesn’t change the fact you have the Mangekyou…” his eyes narrowed, taking in every detail of the design of her eyes, “an overly complex one as well… who did you kill to gain that power?”

Reki just stared at the man flatly, “Mangekyou? That’s what this fucking thing’s called?” the ancient Uchiha just nodded, mildly irritated at her ignorance, she shrugged again like she didn’t care, “I didn’t _kill_ anyone for power, you sick fuck, sure, I killed my lover of the time but it wasn’t to _gain_ these,” she pointed at her eyes with her cigarette holding hand.

Madara’s Rinnegan narrowed, “Lover?” if he were a normal person, and not a zombie of ultimate ‘evil’, he’d look more confused, “that’s only one kill, and that should only explain a _normal_ Mangekyou,” he pointed at her, a swift motion she didn’t even flinch at, “Yours is too complex, it _must_ be an Eternal Mangekyou!”

Reki just stared flatly, hand halfway to her mouth with her cigarette, “Eternal Mangekyou? Are you people fucking kidding me?” a black brow rose on her forehead, “There’s **_another_** version of this thing!!”

Again that should-be-confused look came over Madara. How could someone so ignorant of the secrets of their blood just **_stumble_** upon ultimate power and **_NOT_** know it?! The woman’s only saving grace at this moment, and one thing that didn’t _completely_ tip him over the edge was the fact that she hadn’t enhanced her Mangekyou into the Rinnegan. Thank whatever hellish god was out there!! “Are you serious?”

Black brow still raised and obvious ‘are you stupid’ pout on her lips.

Rinnegan stared flatly, “I was the first Uchiha to attain the Eternal Mangekyou by replacing my eyes with my brothers…”

Reki’s red and black eyes widened just the slightest, before she slammed her fan into the ground and glared murder at the man, “You **_took_** your _brother’s **EYES?!**_ ” Madara gave a curt nod like it was nothing serious. Reki growled, “all to enhance **_your POWER?!_** ”

Rinnegan narrowed, “Of course.”

Cigarette in mouth, fan in the ground, Reki’s fist went into her other hand and she cracked her knuckles, “What the **_fuck_** is wrong with you fuckers?”

Madara tensed, his heightened ninja-senses telling him she was about to unleash all hell, “You had to have killed someone closely related and taken their eyes to gain the Eternal Mangekyou,” his fists clinched, rage at this woman’s ignorance cracking his calm veneer, “Had to suffer the loss of those bonds to gain **_that_** power!!” it almost looked like Madara’s jaw clinched, “so do not act like you are above me for what I did for my own power!!”

“I never did anything for power,” the black haired woman said disturbingly calm, “I murdered my lover, over and over and over, hundreds of times before I completely broke his mind then killed him for real with my bare hands in the bloodiest most excruciating way I could think of,” her hand reached out, “I stood by and watched the woman whom I saw as a daughter kill the second man I loved in cold blood and held his corpse in my arms as I watched all light disappear from his eyes,” her hand reached the giant fan and grabbed it, “and only what felt like moments later when she returned I watched the woman she was die before my eyes,” Reki raised her head, her Mangekyou spinning slowly, “I watched the void envelope her, as I have seen a thousand times before in a thousand different people I personally tortured into insanity before killing them,” her hand pulled the fan out of the ground with a loud groan from the metal, “I’ve broken every bone in this body, destroyed every muscle, and snapped every sinew,” her eyes were fierce and spinning faster, “survived situations anyone else would have died by sheer force of will,” her lips curled back in a fierce snarl, “So do **_NOT_** lecture **_ME_** about suffering!!”

In an instant the giant closed fan rocketed and obliterated the wall where Madara was standing.

The ancient Uchiha was already in the air, forming seals at blinding speed before ending in a tiger seal, pulling his head back only to jut forward and spew out a blazing inferno, “ _Katon: Gouka Mekkyaku_!”

Reki frowned a moment, before running through her own set of seals, breathing in deep and expelling an unseemly large air bullet, “ _Futon: Chou-Daitoppa!”_

For a second Madara thought his progeny was either stupid or insane for throwing an air element attack at a fire attack. Then the two forces met and he realized she was indeed part of the latter. His _Great Fireball Annihilation_ met with the _Ultra-Great Breakthrough_ and instead of blowing through it while gaining power from the wind, exploded in the air between them, blowing him further into the air with mild burns and blocking his view of anything on the ground.

Something large and fast burst through the cloud a fiery chaos and Madara merely willed himself to the side to dodge it. Then he noticed the chain that continued to pass him. His curiosity was piqued only for a moment as he glanced back and noticed the closed folding fan, only for it to open a moment later and a reverse tug to come on the chain. Two and two quickly met to make four in Madara’s mind as he turned to grab the fan, only to find his hand sliced through as the edges of the thing were actually metal blades. The side of the fan cut into his armor and came about half way to dissecting him before the force, fan and gravity just dragged him towards the ground at a disturbingly his speed…

…then he remembered there was a giant cloud of fiery death right below him…

Tapping into the Shodai’s wood ability Madara thrust his hand out and willed wood to grow at ungodly speed to intercept him or consume the fire. Unfortunately his own fire was ungodly powerful, not infinite burn like Amaterasu’s black flames, but still beyond comprehension compared to _normal_ Katon techniques. And what he was seriously starting to assume was a bastard of his blood had added _wind_ to that hellish blaze halting it in the air but making it stronger. This realization came to the ancient Uchiha the moment black-burnt wood shot out of the flames like charred skeletal hands to catch him…

… only to crumble completely as he hit and give the damn _bladed_ fan a reason to cut that much deeper…

The look on Madara’s face as he crashed through the blazing inferno was priceless…

The added look of Reki holding her arm out to clothesline him as her fan cut him fully in half from the force just made it that much better…

Upper half went flying forward with lower half flying pass the woman didn’t so much as deserve a glance, as she was already turning around, grabbing her fan with her hand opposite her chain holding hand by the ring and glared at the Uchiha’s ‘real’ body as his dissected-self crumbled again into earth.

Madara didn’t bother with words, as he leaned back and shot forth another gargantuan level flame attack.

Reki frowned, using the momentum she’d already gained by turning around and backhanding her fan with an added push of chakra and whipping up a maelstrom that ignited the flames between them again.

The ancient Uchiha had to admit, even to himself in the fraction of a second as he slammed his hands on the ground creating a massive wooden barrier that quickly burned to dust, that the fact that the woman could **_deflect_** his flames with _WIND_ was not only highly unlikely but quite impressive.

Again the closed fan came crashing through his ‘ash’ wall like a giant flail. He dodged, only for a chain came at him in lightning speed, which if it weren’t for his Rinnegan he’d have completely missed.

… of course this only set him up to be stuck between the two as Reki came down from above with roar and her right hand cocked and seemingly _ON **FIRE!!**_ As she crashed down, causing a creator that was burning and melted at its core…

As Reki pulled her fist out of the melted ground and stood on sizzling earth that destroyed her sandals like they were nothing and singed the bottom of her pants, she glared up in the direction of Madara.

The ancient Uchiha was staring. The woman was standing on burning earth, barefoot, and her right hand was red like a hot-poker and all she did was give him that same glare she’d been giving the whole damn time. Against his infinitesimal will, his visible black brow rose slightly, “Hn.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly, “Oh don’t look so surprised…” she said snarkily despite the seriousness of the look on her face, “Thought you Uchihas were all about ‘feel the burn’.”

Infinitesimal narrowing of Rinnegan eyes, “Uchiha control fire, not bathe in it…”

Reki’s demented grin returned, “how sane of you…” she cocked her left hand and drew the chain, dislodging her massive folding fan and drawing it to herself, dropping the chain at the last moment to grab the thing by the ring at its bottom. She slammed the thing closed and shoved it into the ground standing up, since the earth had already cooled, although Madara had already noticed the thing didn’t melt despite the intense heat of his fire. Then to just add insult to injury, the black haired bastard just leaned on the thing, using her now not-glowing-hand to removed her cigarette and blow out smoke through her nose.

Madara stared.

Reki cocked a black brow, “What?”

An impeccably small frown tugged at the edges of the ancient Uchiha’s lips…

Then he was gone, shot forward with his gloved fist coming into contact with the broad side of the closed fan…

Reki was grinning evilly, blowing smoke into his face, only it was full of chakra and burned as it came into contact with his face.

Madara’s fist came up to wipe the burning ash off his face, only then did he notice the woman had backed off…

… Then the ash exploded, on his face!

Landing on her feet and not bothering to enjoy the little gimmick, Reki replaced her cigarette, and ran through a series of seals, slamming her hands on the ground. All the ash in the area, and there was a damn lot of it thanks to Madara’s summoning wood to protect himself only for it to burn into, guess what **_ash_** , gathered towards her as she pressed her chakra into the substance, giving it form and life. Her Mangekyou spun with a light twinkle, as she grinned, “ _TaisakuKaibun-Ryu!!_ ”

And the _epic_ cinder dragon roared, charging at the ancient Uchiha.

A black glove wiped off his face again, the parchment like flaking of his Edo Tensei body reforming itself quickly enough… only to hear that ground breaking roar. His Rinnegan flashed open in time to see a massive, sky covering, cloud of _living ash_ charge at him, consuming his vision in the form of a dragon. Ghostly ash jaws clamped around him, consuming him as it continued its charging path, sending him down its throat. The more disturbing part was that the inside wasn’t _‘ash’_ per say, or at least not like the external ash, it was **_burning_** inside!! White hot and cherry glow in the center, so dense it couldn’t be seen from the outside and the pressure kept high on the inside to perpetuate the burning cinders…

His gloves, armor and hair quickly caught fire simply from the presence, while the undulating of the dragon’s insides sought to crush him in the burning ash. No Uchiha had considered the _ash_ and _cinders_ of the flames they employed to be so… dangerous. – _This bastard…_ \- he didn’t want to think it, didn’t want to give the idea life as he gathered the chakra within his undying body and that of the stolen cells of Hashirama, but it slipped out anyway with a petulant smirk as he slammed his hands together, “… Genius.”

Reki watched as the cinder dragon flew high into the sky, winding in on itself and preparing to detonate…

…only for burning wood to explode forth from the inside like some twisted star…

Mangekyou eyes widened as her dragon gave a dying cry, losing shape and crumbling…

Then she glared, slamming her hands into another seal, the fucker just added to her arsenal…

…everything exploded in an uncanny inferno of white flames, grey ash, and burnt trees…

…in the middle of the sky…

xXx

Out in the other battlefields some distance away, several heads turned at the explosion, and those of the newly named ‘Gakushin’ clan of bastards just _knew_ that had to be their ‘leader’…

xXx

As the fires died down in the sky, Madara, in flaky burning armor and reforming body, spied his adversary on the ground as he began his free fall. His Rinnegan glared at her, wanting to see the shock on her face that he was _still_ alive…

… she was crouching on one knee, glaring up at him with her Mangekyou, with her hands clasped together in front of her…

Part of Madara wanted to think it was her praying for Kami to save her from his wrath, that had fucking **_hurt_** , immortal body or not! But one look at her eyes and he knew that wasn’t it…

A shadow prevailed over the ancient Uchiha. Looking over his bare shoulder he saw what it was and just had to stare…

A massive… **_MASSIVE!!_** Thick ball of ash blocked out the sun and was coming after him like an insane swarm…

He’d dealt with the young Kazekage’s sand, Oonoki’s Dust element, the Mizukage’s lava and mist releases, and the destructive combined taijutsu and nintaijutsu of the Hokage and Raikage…

Somehow the collective ball of floating **_death_** just hovering in the air that was spindling off and **_chasing_** him down to the ground was just…

He didn’t even know…

But a grin spread across his face, **_THIS_** was what he had expected from Kage!!

Madara’s hands rushed together as his eyes stayed on the ball of swarming death as it rushed after him. His hands slammed into the final seal and his ungloved and bare arm thrust out at the approaching ash. Out of his arm wood expanded and whole trees, hell a vine-like forest threw itself as a distraction… his other hand extended to the ground, which he turned towards, caught the skeptical look on the woman on the ground, and performed a series of one-handed seals.

The ground under Reki’s feet shook, but she held her seal. She couldn’t see her attack thanks to the asshole’s arm of trees, but she could feel it with her chakra. With her eyes she caught the look on the psychotic Uchiha’s face, he was grinning, that was just scary…

Then the ground around her exploded into a forest… it **_EXPLODED_** into a **_FOREST!!_**

Okay, she’d give him that, that was just all sorts of fucked up massive map-changing shenanigans…

“Fuck,” releasing her seal, she grabbed her fan as the ground underneath her turned into a twisting tree that seemed intent on crushing her. Hopping from one rapidly growing branch to another she strapped the fan to her back and drew back all of her chain, she did **_not_** need to get caught in this madness…

Once she made it to what was conceivably a ‘top’ of a tree, at the moment, she looked around to get her bearings, the cavern they’d been fighting in was now a bloody forest… it was a **_bloody FOREST!_** Reki’s head spun from one side to the other, taking in the massive scale of a technique she’d never thought possible with her Mangekyou, “By the Rikudou-Sannin!!”

Her moment of being stunned was abruptly shattered as she turned just in time to get a fist in the face and sent flying across the sea of trees only to fall below the canopy and seemingly hitting every bough on the way down.

“Don’t get so distracted from something so small!!” Madara shouted in standard Uchiha-smug-asshatery. He landed on the top of the canopy, the ‘small’ forest he’d summoned dropping behind him, crashing and crushing the boughs behind him and then the ash from the woman’s technique rained down upon the entire area creating a grey haze…

Reki pushed herself up off the floor, wiping the blood from her lip. She knew if she weren’t herself that entire half of her face would be broken. Her blazing Mangekyou looked around, everything was grey and she could see all the particles of ash in the air. Her ‘super’ technique had crumbled, blanketing the area in dust apparently. That would halt the growth of a _real_ forest, this much ash in the air contaminating everything, she coughed up something from her lungs and spit it out, again wiping her mouth as she stood up, “Good thing I’m a smoker,” a smirk rose on her lips, this was nothing new.

“I WILL FIND YOU!!” Madara shouted from the tallest tree in his man-made forest.

Reki rolled her eyes; she had no intention of ‘hiding’. Her hands slammed together and ran through seals, this forest was in her way, “ _Katon Futon: Choudai Kaisen!!_ ” and her mouth bulged with white fire licking out until she couldn’t contain it anymore, breathing out a shockwave of flames and wind, feeding each other and spreading all around. She held the technique and spun, breathing out white flames in three hundred and sixty degrees, leveling the forest and turning it to ash almost as quickly as it had risen.

Madara actually _felt_ the heat before he saw the light in the hazy distance. The closer it came the brighter it got and quickly the updraft from the heat blew through the trees as it approached. And the sound, a raging inferno, he knew that sound, the cacophony of trees cracking, bending, even the wisp of the air catching fire from the heat and all the water in the area evaporating. It was music to his ears! Added to the orchestra he was familiar with was the flicks of the ash in the air catching fire and burning everything it touched before the white fires consumed it. Then he saw it, the wall of white fire building as it burned through his forest. For a moment he wondered if this is what his rival Hashirama felt like as he did the exact same thing…

The ancient Uchiha glared at the approaching wall of flames, his right hand grasping as it missed the familiar feel of his Gunbai Uchiwa, wishing to use it the same way that woman had been using her own fan. – _For not claiming to be an Uchiha, she still uses a fan to fight… even if it’s a Tessen instead of an Uchiwa_ \- Madara put his hands together, then concentrated, he had wanted to keep this fight on the level he assumed this woman to be, but without Gunbai the situation seemed to call for it. Staring out as the flames came closer he threw out his hands, channeling the Preta path of the Rinnegan to absorb the attack…

… and like everything the woman seemed to throw at him, conventional means of countering just didn’t work out as planned…

As Madara reached out and the flames came within contact of him, and he started absorbing it, the white flames licked around his hands that consumed them, burning the edges and spreading further until his hands were charred. Then of course, by compressing the flames to absorb them in such a small tight space, it **_EXPLODED!!_**

Surrounded by red-hot-melted-ground and black ash Reki watched as her flames ate through the forest like some ravenous animal. Then one side exploded, and she grinned at the sound. – _I found you…_ \- she thought as she turned, watching as the wall collapsed on that side, coming down like a wave of white flames and washing over the area beyond as the explosion pooled and extinguished the flames in the central area before what was left continued to eat what was left.

The black haired woman ran off in that direction, running across lava-like ground barefoot as if it didn’t bother her at all, since she knew jumping on any of the black ash trees would just result in them crumbling and her dropping on her ass again. A second and one or two good jumps and she found the grounded form of Madara’s body, trying desperately to reconstitute itself. His hands were black, and not from his gloves, but if they were flesh they’d have to be amputated. His body was sizzling as it lay on one of the few ‘darker’ patches of molten ground, and the paper like shreds were flaking off and seemed to be irritated at the constant repair going on.

Reki just stared at him, no emotion on her face but contempt.

Madara’s Rinnegan opened and saw her standing in the blazing field like nothing was wrong and just glaring at him with that same look. For whatever reason he started laughing…

… then exploded into a mountain of flames.

If Uchiha Madara was any other evil mad genius he’d be laughing right now. As it was he stood, looking over the precipice of one of the ledges of the cavern they’d been fighting in, arms crossed and Rinnegan just watching as his Fire Clone exploded, whoever said you couldn’t improve the Exploding Clone technique? This woman seemed apt at making the smallest things explode, and as the old saying went, fight fire with fire. He held out one of his hands, everything had rematerialized as the Edo Tensei insured, but his hands were still numb. The feel of them burning all the way down to the bone, along with the flames all-consuming around him, it was not something he desired to feel again if at all possible.

After flexing his hand a moment he used both to form several seals and tapped into the water half of Hashirama’s wood release, “ _Soiton: Mizurappa!!_ ” taking a deep breath the Uchiha expelled a cascade of water, nowhere near as much as he could create with fire, but it was enough to rain over a large portion of the molten ground, causing it to solidify and rapidly cool, resulting in massive amounts of steam that clouded the area. Jumping down Madara made his way in the general direction of where the explosion happened, not caring for the cracked earth or the rising steam.

Out of nowhere in the mist a chain came out…

He halted, backhanding the chain and waiting for the next attack, he wasn’t even going to let his mind consider how the woman survived.

… the heavily weighted and sharp closed fan slammed into his side outside his periphery and sent him toppling…

After a roll and a slide, Madara caught himself, Rinnegan going from side to side trying to make out any forms in the mist. It was too thick, too cloudy, his eyes couldn’t pierce through…

On pure instinct he dodge as the ‘flail’ came down and smashed next to him again…

Against his will his eyes narrowed, the woman’s attacks were too accurate, how was she finding him in this blindness?

In his moment of thought something snaked around his hand and he had only a chance to glance at the metal before he was quickly dragged, pulled into the air and tossed, round and round until finally slamming hard onto the ground in a small creator. Disoriented the ancient Uchiha had only a moment to realize the glowing in the mist was drawing near as he threw up a hand…

… The skeletal form of Susano’o formed just in time as Reki slammed down with a burning fist forcing him further into the ground and cracked his ethereal armor!

**_That_** caught the ancient Uchiha’s attention.

Then the woman crouched on Susano’o _as if she was holding **on!**_ And drew back her other hand, it glowing with burning fury as she brought it down with godlike force and **_broke THROUGH_** SUSANO’O!!Rinnegan eyes were _slightly_ wide as her flaming hand grabbed the cuff of his collar and _TOSS **HIM** OUT OF **SUSANO’O!!**_

The woman quickly followed her prey, letting the burning skeleton fall back into the ground, arm held out as if crying for help as it faded to dust.

Madara flew over the mist, still blinking as this had never happened before, as a chain shot out of it, wrapped around his foot and dragged him back towards the swirling clouds.

… only for the woman holding said chain by the ring of her giant fan to meet him halfway with a double kick of fiery fury, cracking his armor and sending flaking paper like substance all around…

They fell, him being below as she continued to kicking him further and further, setting his armor on fire while doing so and didn’t stop when he smashed into another sizeable creator on the ground.

When the dust finally settled, mist having blown away from the furious attack, and the kicking of flaming fury stopped, Madara opened his eyes only to see the woman holding her folded fan up, point down and her Mangekyou burning…

Rinnegan eyes widened a fraction…

… and Reki brought her weapon down, and for the second time that day she decapitated the ancient Uchiha.

…

..

.

The first thing the woman registered was the feel of her hands on her weapon, the left holding the ring while the right held the side that was cutting her hand. Her feet stood on a papery material that seemed to wiggle. Then she felt the tremble, starting in her hands and spreading throughout her entire body.

Then her body remembered what it felt like to breathe, as her first breath in consciousness was a deep gasp followed by more gulping breathes as the trembling continued.

Her body forgot what it meant to sweat and everything felt too dry as she breathed deeply.

Her muscles burned and chilled.

The smell of dirt, ash, steam and other forms of fire lingered and permeated the air.

She leaned forward on her weapon as her eyes burned, too dry to form tears.

Slowly her breathing came under control as she stepped off the wriggling paper-like body. Standing somewhat straighter as she jerked her weapon out of the hole it’d dug, the familiar groan of metal as it protested. On the other side was what looked like more paper and a part of her was hoping to see a gaping head…

She took a step back, controlling her breathing and her senses but kept her eyes on the sonvabitch’s body. He wasn’t dead, but that sure as hell felt good…

Without thinking her legs collapsed and she was forced into a sitting position, her giant fan leaning on her, but her eyes stayed glued to the paper of the man’s head, just waiting…

Slowly it reformed, as if trying to figure out what pieces went where, or maybe the chakra holding him together was actually starting to weaken. Soon enough Uchiha Madara’s head reformed and his re-gloved hand rose up in his laying position and cracked his neck. After taking a moment to stare at the clearing sky his head turned to the woman sitting not a foot from him just staring.

Rinnegan met Mangekyou.

“What the hell are you?” the ancient Uchiha asked flatly.

“Tch,” Reki moved her fan to sit across her lap, “A bastard, nothing more…”

That imperceptible narrowing of his Rinnegan, “You haven’t used Susano’o, yet that flaming fist attack of yours almost feels similar…”

“The fuck I’d want a giant puppet?” if she wasn’t so paranoid and hateful to the man, she’d roll her eyes, but seeing as that was impossible, Reki just glared more, “and why should I tell you?” her glare became flat, “You have no idea or respect for the teachings or ideology of Kumo…”

Madara stared flatter, “Humor me,” when she continued to be silent he broke their staring contest, pushing his body up and sitting in front of her same as she was, taking in everything about this woman that both was and wasn’t like an Uchiha, “You’ve unlocked different means to attain what took my whole life to capture, now you seem to have developed along another separate path,” his gloved fists tightened, “Tell me!”

The black haired and tan woman crossed her arms, eyes never faltering from his own gaze, “Again, why should I? I hate you, your clan, and everything you represent,” pure anger clouded her features as her Mangekyou began to spin, “You believe power is all and it is fine to use whatever means to take it, all you do is destroy and conquer, there is no care or protection in any of your movements or actions.”

Again his eyes narrowed just the slightest, “Continue?”

Reki’s red and black eyes became slits, he was mocking her and she wanted nothing more than to burn him to ash, but if was occupied with ‘curiosity’ then it gave her an opportunity, “Konoha’s ideology is summed up in their _holy_ phrase ‘Will of Fire’,” she noticed his mouth twitch down the slightest, did he disagree? “Kumo’s ideology can be described as ‘Words rule Power’.”

Black brow rose on the ancient male.

Again Reki wished to roll her eyes, but instead clinched her jaw, “ ‘Words form ideas, ideas control the brain, the brain controls the body and the body can rule the world’, there is no greater power then a single word.”

“Are you people that backwards?” Madara crossed his arms, “And what the hell does this have to do with your… ability?”

“Think about it,” Reki’s glare intensified, “Your ‘Will of Fire’ causes you to only push forward, to go out and destroy, because that is all fire does,” she waved her hand in a gesture but neither moved their eyes from the other, “Our ‘Words rule Power’ teaches us control, first ourselves then the world, why do you think so many Kumo-nin are such physical powerhouses? Especially with our Raikage, whose proficiency is nintaijutsu?”

The ancient Uchiha considered the man’s Lightning Armor, “Perhaps,” he stared, trying to find some weakness of fallacy in her words, “that still doesn’t explain your fiery abilities…”

Reki’s jaw clinched tighter, “If you can’t figure it out on your own you don’t deserve to know, dead or not,” with that she removed her giant fan and used it to hoist herself up, tired of gracing the jerk with speech. She looked down at him one more time, trying to figure out what was the most insulting way she could walk away before continuing the fight, “Where you and your thirst for power brought you a giant puppet with disgusting amounts of power named Susano’o that you had to sacrifice your humanity for,” something about the look of her eyes softened and it itched Madara the wrong way, “I sought nothing but a means to continue, I serve my home, my people, my leader and my family,” she lifted the heavy metal fan and hung it over her shoulder by the ring, “My loyalty is without question, despite my actions and what I’ve done I’ve retained my honor, I regret nothing,” she noticed Madara’s left hand twitch, “For all that, my determination, skill and lack of fear I have been granted what I call Karna.”

“Karna?” Madara’s hand twitched again, “There is some _other_ form our eyes can take? Is that why your eyes are so complex?”

Reki just sighed, “You completely missed the point,” her head shook, as she stared at him again, “You’re a genius, figure it out,” when he ruffled, as slight as anything he did, she grinned, “I’ll give you a hint, you’ll never kill me…”

That imperceptible frown, “You will die when this is over, as long as Edo Tensei is active this body will continue to rebuild itself…”

The black haired woman reached into her pocket and brought out a cigarette and her lighter again, “And I’ll just kill you over and over and over again until either it sticks, you go insane from the constant pain, or I suppose _they_ ,” she nodded in the direction they both knew the Kages were watching from, “Decide it’s time to step in and seal you…” she put the cigarette in her mouth and lit it, “But as for your first part,” her eyes looked down at him passively again, that ‘softness’ he couldn’t identify, “You won’t kill me…”

“Watch me,” it came out before he even considered the thought.

Again she just stared passively with her Mangekyou, “The day I die is a long way from here, in a bed when I’m too old, weak and decrepit to take care of myself,” she took a drag from her cigarette before removing it and breathing out slowly, “I’ll pass away quietly on this side, but the moment I set foot on the other side Death will be there, waiting to start yelling at me about why the hell it took so damn long…”

Rinnegan eyes glared hard…

… and the next moment Madara was in inch from her face with a kunai held at her neck, “I will kill you…”

Again Reki continued to stare passively, before blowing out smoke from her nose causing Madara to step back reflexively because of what happened last time, “And like I said, the day I die is a long way from here…”

And quickly she slammed her hands together…

… and before Madara could so much as glance he was encased in an orb of ash, packed so tightly he couldn’t move and just like the dragon the center of it was a blazing white inferno.

“I said you won’t,” the woman stood there, eyes remaining on the sphere, holding it together and continuously crushing and burning the body of one of the most ancient of Uchiha.

Five presences appeared immediately but the black haired woman didn’t turn to them.

“Is it really him in there?” Tsunade was the first to ask, skeptical with how many times the man pulled off substitutes and all other manner of bullshit saving means.

“Mm,” Reki didn’t move staring at the orb of compact ash.

“Impressive,” Gaara said, standing next to the woman, “It’s even more compact then my sand…”

“Hn,” the black haired woman snorted, “Ash is smaller than sand and sticks to itself and everything else, unlike sand, and when compressed creates heat, so really its cinders and the part where his body is over a thousand degrees…”

They all blinked, stared in surprise.

Reki paid them no mind, “Raikage-sama, get in contact with my ‘kin’, I need more people to ensure we bury this sonvabitch…”

“Good thing they’re already here,” the large man raised one hand and out from the edges of the field nearly fifty people of various ages jumped down surrounding their ‘leader’ and the cinder prison she was maintaining.

“Figures,” Part of Reki’s mouth twitched up in a smirk, “Alright, listen up the lot of you, those of you Uchiha bastards, I need anyone that’s managed to awaken the second form of these eyes, the ‘Mangekyou’ as its apparently called,” she snorted, “Though honestly I’d call it a pinwheel or something…”

“How do we know if we have it?” a woman younger than Reki with auburn hair, a second generation asked.

The woman frowned, trying not to break her concentration, “The Sharingan changes, it feels like they’re on fire the first time and only appears after witnessing the death of someone you care deeply for…” she clinched her teeth, she could feel Madara pushing from the inside, despite the continuous burning and reforming of his body he was still resisting, “I don’t care who, just hurry up and help with this prison!”

Eight people stepped forward, each with a different version of Mangekyou, a few of the older ones wearing glasses they quickly removed. They split in groups of two and formed five points with Reki being the head. She could feel the moment they applied the power of their own Mangekyou to hers and the pressure of Madara dropped considerably on herself.

“Kaa-san,” without looking Reki felt her son Jun take a position next to her, immediately she felt the pressure lessen again, “I will help as well…”

“Jun,” she said with a tremble in her voice, “I never wanted this curse for you…”

The young man in his early twenties with brown hair and normally his eyes were black just like his mothers, but now they revealed his own variant of the Mangekyou, with a central three point triangular pattern similar to his mother’s but with far more black and less circles. He had a small frown on his face, he knew his mother’s fear, for everyone here, those that lived in Kumo and were always on the lookout for some _sign_ they may be like the man that sired them all. The fear of being anything like the power hungry people that were the Uchiha.

“I was afraid to tell you,” was all he said.

And it was all he had to say, Reki nodded, accepting he understood what this meant, same as the other eight gave her similar looks. They knew as well, they were cursed with eyes that were proof of some heart wrenching tragedy in their lives, something that would break lesser people and was the root of what was wrong with the people they weren’t.

“We will hold him here,” Reki wanted to look out at the rest of them, lead them like she should have, like she felt she needed to as the eldest of the ‘bastards’, “The rest of you, help where you can, and do whatever it takes to stop the rest of these zombies…”

“HAI!” the rest of the ‘clan’ gave a nod and many leapt off towards new targets.

Mei stayed behind a moment and looked upon her Mother and Brother, her own Sharingan active and imprinting the designs on their eyes into her mind. Jun had confided in her with what happened to him that caused his eyes to change and it had been such a tragic story, now she knew her mother was the same along with the others. A part of her was afraid to ask, to _ever_ ask, but she shook her head, ridding herself of the thoughts before smiling at them, “Do your best, Nii-chan, Kaa-chan, the rest of you!!” and she too was off to help somewhere else in the war.

“Heh,” Oonoki grunted, “Quite the touching scene, kid, got any great ‘ _orders_ ’ for us?”

The eldest of the ‘bastards’ could only smirk but still she refused to look away from her task, “Yea, end this technique so I can go home, my shoulder is killing me old man…”

The Tsuchikage laughed, “I could always encase that orb in dust element if ya want?”

“Tch,” the black haired woman snorted, “Like I’d trust _that_ to work…”

“Kaa-san,” her son reprimanded next to her, garnering chuckles from the other Mangekyou users.

Tsunade just shook her head, rubbing the spot between her eyes where she could feel a headache forming, “I can’t believe you hid this…” honey eyes glared at the back of the Raikage, “Really, ten Mangekyou users, almost fifty Uchiha-”

“WE’RE **_NOT_** UCHIHA!!”

All five Kage twitched at the loud yell from nine of the Mangekyou users; apparently Reki was tired of saying it over and over again.

“Hokage,” the Raikage spoke crisply while watching his people, “It was one of **_your_** Uchiha that betrayed **_you_** and then violated **_my_** people,” he brought his hands behind his back, trying to calm his tone before he started yelling, “If anything **_you_** should apologize to their mothers for allowing such insane people to exist…”

“Here here,” Reki said bluntly followed by agreements from the three other first generation bastards.

Tsunade bit her lip, keeping her own temper in check, “The Sharingan is supposed to belong to the Uchiha, who are ours, yes…”

“Tell that to Kakashi, or Ao from Kiri, or hell even Yorihi,” the black haired woman shrugged, “We’re ninja, we steal each other’s tools all the time, it’s just that one of your boys went about ‘handing his over’ differently,” she snorted, “Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if there aren’t Uchiha bastards in Kiri, Iwa, Suna or any other villages for that matter, ever seen one of them try to steal your precious ‘Last Uchiha’?”

Terumi Mei and Oonoki fidgeted while Gaara looked as passive as normal. Then he shrugged.

“I didn’t even know about these ones or this version of the Sharingan until today,” the Raikage said bluntly.

Tsunade’s hand met face.

“Seriously though, someone go end the fucking Edo Tensei before I drop,” Reki fidgeted, “I really need a drink of water…”

xxxxx

Kaijin – ash, Haijin- ash and dust, Chou-dai –double great(Ultra), Taisaku – epic, Kaibun –cinder(ash)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reki is the kind of idiot that would call something 'Double Great'...
> 
> over on FFN this is posted by itself as i wrote it LONG before i made 'A Day in Kumo' and was too lazy to change it...


	3. The Wolf Joke Thing...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While starting her infiltration, Ryougi Katsuri meets a very straight forward little boy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon - was meant to be part of the Konoha Infiltration arc but i ended up cutting that all out and summing it up in 'Blindly Following Others' from Itachi's pov... so here's a tidbit of what could have been~

Outside a tea house in the upper-end district of the Konohagakure sat a woman. For all intents and purposes this woman didn’t appear much different from those around her, she had pale skin and white hair held up in intricate braids, the longer ones pulled in a bun to not have them dangle _too_ far but left enough loose for three ‘tails’ to tap around her shoulders, while her long bangs covered the sides of her face. She sighed deeply, slumping her shoulders, appearing for all those around her to freely interpret an ‘obvious’ woman distraught about something but not enough to be fully distressed about it. for whatever reason the people gave her a wide berth, this may be due to her ‘common’ kimono, that while not completely unpleasant to the eye, if one looked closely it was obvious it was very thick and not designed for a temperate environment like the Land of Fire, so that only left many villagers to assume the woman was a foreigner… and to be a ‘foreigner’ in a ninja village was about the same as being branded a pariah.

The woman sighed again, holding the tea cup in her hand and finally opening soft grey eyes to spot the few clouds passing the strange blue skies. Any ninja worth their weight could tell from the woman’s attire she was from the Land of Lightning, only there and places further north like Iron, was there a necessity for such thick garments and only Lightning bothered to trade outside their boarders, Iron was somewhat if not _extremely_ xenophobic. So the irony of this foreign woman so ‘used’ to grey-cloudy skies all the time being _depressed_ about the sunny clear blue skies of the Land of Fire was not lost to them.

Especially the ANBU team assigned to ‘watch’ this woman in case she proved to be a Kumo spy…

In the deep, dark abyss hidden under layers upon layers upon layers of mental barriers and blocks inside ‘young’ Ryougi Katsuri’s mind sat an Assassin, and she was **_NOT_** impressed by the ‘security’ one of the major five villages had to offer. While glancing down at her tea she managed to ‘tilt’ the cup enough to spot three of the ANBU sentries off of the green reflection, if that personality wasn’t completely buried and ‘dead’ by all rights she would be openly scoffing at these… _children_. But the ‘Assassin’ did not exist, so Katsuri was simply gazing into her tea, wondering what to do with her life now that she was stranded in Konoha…

What she had told the Hokage had been that her father’s trading company, based at the edge of the Land of Lightning, had been attacked by Kiri-nin who were fleeing from the civil war raging in their lands. It had been a complete misunderstanding, but her father and siblings were all dead, their business lost, and she had only survived because she had been ‘making her rounds’ and decided to check in back home, only to find everything burned to the ground, everyone slaughtered. Kumo-nin had been dispatched to ‘investigate’ and bolster security on the boarders but that just mean they were acting like brigands, taking over boarder villages for all they were worth and ‘dealing’ with anyone they saw as a traitor to their country. She had immediately turned at the first sign back the way she’d come, warning Konoha to bolster its defense in case those ‘monsters’ got any ideas about the Land of Fire…

By all accounts it looked like another war could start, and the Hokage had thanked her for the information, offering her asylum for ‘helping’ them as he sent special teams of ninja to investigate. Katsuri was relieved to be taken in by such a kind village… the ‘Assassin’ was simply checking off its list, ‘infiltration’ success, now it only mattered that Jin had paid attention to her warnings and played up the boarder defenses... of course the moment he saw Konoha closing in on his boarders he’d have shinobi there ready to defend and validate her persona’s ‘story’… check one, done.

The ‘hard’ part next had been giving her story over and over again at T&I, never before had the civilian woman thought she would have to deal with such people. The blonde man a bit older than her was far ‘kinder’ then the young man with the scars, his green eyes were kind as he stated he’d simply read her memories to see if there was any information she may have missed. Katsuri, being a civilian and all her ‘ties’ just destroyed simply agreed, **_she_** had nothing to hide from the people that were helping her, and if she could help them then… well… all the better. The Assassin built up the persona, devising an entire new ‘mind’ dedicated to the ‘woman’ she was and all the ‘truths’ _she_ knew, it simply slid under a trapdoor in the mindscape as the blonde-mindwalker, a Yamanaka of course, passed by, using his techniques to search out what he sought, finding the ‘memories’ as any other… ‘Passing’ this checkpoint was a matter of patience and will, Yamanaka’s, while powerful mind-readers and generally adept at finding lies, are blind like most shinobi when it came to certain things. He would accept a civilian woman having a resistant mind, not _too_ much or he’d be suspicious, but not too little as to be _familiar_ with mental infiltration, that was one of the ‘few’ dead giveaways to spies, they became so ‘used’ to fooling mindprobes they became far too receptive of them on instinct. No, this man was the clan head from the information the Assassin had gathered previously, and while a hardened veteran of at least one war and several international skirmishes, he was still _soft_ , he wouldn’t probe too far into this ‘poor traumatized civilian’ woman’s mind if his conscience felt he was harming her…

Three hours later he validated the woman’s story and gave a few hints to the tactics used by the Kiri-nin that attacked and a few other bits of information the woman ‘didn’t know’ she knew… check two, done.

Seeing as the woman wasn’t an enemy, not ‘officially’ anyway, and she had a record of being a relatively familiar trader, as a few other ‘ _traders_ ’ could vouch for her, the Hokage granted her asylum, offering her a citizenship form to fill out and a list of addresses with open apartments for sale. Katsuri had been shocked by the elder Hokage’s generosity, telling him she would check them out along with any other listings she ran by before quickly filling out the form and filing it with one of his assistants. The Assassin was not so stupid, those listings were _obviously_ bugged or had ANBU-specific vantage points so they could keep tabs on her, ‘just in case’… or they damn well better be or she was going to find another reason to hate this place…

Two listings had bugs, three hidden walls and breaks, and the final one was in direct line of sight from one of the ‘hidden’ ANBU HQ covers… well, at least they did _something_ right… Katsuri had merely declined them, finding some odd little end wrong with them or something to complain about, she was a trader’s daughter, she knew a bad deal, no matter how ‘generous’, when she saw one… The Assassin knew this would draw attention and be a reason to ‘out’ her as a spy if she were ‘aware’ of the bugs and other ‘spying’ means in each place, but if she played her persona right it would seem both believable and ‘in-character’ for her to find other lodging, after all Ryougi Katsuri was a rather ‘independent’ woman…

She had eventually found an apartment on the third floor of a building near the center of town… for dirt cheap! Apparently the top floor was a single flat owned by someone ‘obnoxious’ or ‘annoying’ or some other derogatory term the landlord used and caused most people to steer clear of the building, but her being a ‘foreigner’ had no such compunctions. To the recently homeless and jobless trader’s daughter this was a godsend, since while the Hokage’s offers had been ‘generous’ they were also a bit out of her price-range… the double-bonus for the Assassin was that whoever lived on the top floor had a constant ANBU watch, meaning she was in their line of sight without being their ‘direct’ target, giving reason to diminish any doubts it was the bugging or ANBU spot-points or overall her being a ‘spy’ that tipped her off on the other places… she was just a penny-pincher in this light. Check three, done.

So with ‘home’ and residence established that meant on to the ‘next’ task, acquiring a job…

This made the ‘young’ white haired woman sigh deeply, as she sipped her tea out on the bench in front of the teashop. As a successful trader Ryougi Katsuri wasn’t _exactly_ dirt poor… even if the apartment she chose was namely for its low-low price (and key placement and visibility), but she was anything but a ‘beggar’. Yes she and her family never ‘flaunted’ their money, like she saw many nobles and ‘high-end’ shinobi clans, her father had instilled in all his children the easiest way to ‘lose’ money was to opulence, so despite their decent savings her parents had never spent much, simply saving it for when needed. She was lucky she had taken her father’s attitude towards money to heart and had her own side accounts which wouldn’t be affected by the ‘sudden’ lapse of her family and business. Once the whole affair in confirming her father and family _were_ dead, she would inherit all the assets as the sole survivor, and while the business may dry up, all it was worth would go to her… unless her father did something screwy like get a second wife or business partner… otherwise she was in the relative clear financially. If she ate nothing but ramen and drank cheap tea she could live comfortably enough, even with the living expense of her ‘dirt-cheap’ apartment for at least a year doing nothing…

The ‘reality’, as the Assassin contemplated this situation and the best course of action, was that ‘Kemui’ was actually filthy-fucking-rich… double ‘F’s required. As the sole living member of her clan she inherited not only all the Assassin clan in Kumo owned, legally, but also ‘technically’ inherited all their not-so-legal assets, including various accounts under different names and the like in several countries. Assassinations were **_NOT_** cheap, even for the likes of them who were born and bred solely for that, she had no idea how the clan in Kumo ran things but her clan up north didn’t particularly ‘care’ about money, kept it as necessary and effectively threw out or gave away the rest. Apparently the clan in Kumo had become so ‘like’ the Ninja they even required payment for their sole purpose, and even now she still got ‘paid’ for it, as a Jounin’s salary with bonuses and etc. and if she _did_ ask for lowest price it was still a hefty sum… especially compounding that she was getting an **_ENTIRE_** clan’s worth of jobs just to herself. Suffice it to say; on her own she was financially wealthy, adding the rest was somewhat ridiculous. Luckily she wasn’t an idiot and kept this information to herself, her ‘primary’ account, under a different name, held as much as she _would_ use in a year at any given time, about the equivalent of two or three jobs minus all the village fees. Everything else was funneled meticulously into **_hundreds_** of separate accounts with various aliases in all countries with sufficient amount maintained in each to suit whatever need whatever alias would need it for… hell she could give herself a ‘loan’ with the front of a bank if she needed it… buy out a company? Why not? Pay a bunch of people to think they have ‘real’ jobs working for a ‘real’ company? Sure… she’s done it… it’s amazing how ‘familiar’ the business end of the world was with rising and falling competitors that it didn’t seem strange at all for a company to only exist for a month or less… she _had_ thought about giving it all away, but that would cause more questions than she cared to answer, and it was times like this that she needed all these myriad fronts such finances could gain her, so why bother? The Assassin preferred to only consider the ‘practicality’ of such assets, only seeing it as that; an asset, just another tool in her arsenal to get the job done, instead of all the frivolous things others consider it for…

If asked she would never state how much she was worth financially… that didn’t mean she didn’t ‘know’ exactly how much all that was worth. Suffice it to say, if Kumo were ever in need of ‘financial aid’ like Suna was, resulting in it downgrading, they would suddenly find a flood of ‘requests’ from various ‘companies’ and the like as necessary… since it would seem weird to just ‘give’ them the money.

But back to the point at hand, ‘Ryougi Katsuri’ was one of the Assassin’s more ‘benefited’ persona, especially given she was an ‘individual’ and not a ‘company’, though that did remind her she would have to abruptly ‘end’ that business unless she were to sell it to one of the shareholders, least they pull a coup and just take it… business, often more ruthless then the battlefield. But that was all for another day, the ‘Assassin’s’ job was ending lives and at the moment it needed a decent enough cover that would allow access to various odd-ends, her primary targets, secondary targets, and whatever else needed to keep the ANBU guessing.

Now, what would be a good cover-

“Hey lady?”

A high voice called out snapping Katsuri from her thoughts on what kinds of jobs she could take, raising her head and spotting a young boy. When he caught sight of her eyes on him, curiously and not some other emotion he was used to, he gave this big grin, scrunching up his cheeks and closing his eyes. The poor ‘young’ woman could only blink, not sure where this boy had come from or why he was addressing her, most people liked to act like she didn’t exist…

“I gotta question for ya,” a stout childish finger was suddenly flung in her face as the boy’s bright blue eyes looked directly into hers, “Do you know what an ‘Ookami’ is?”

Grey eyes merely blinked, not sure what to make of the strange blonde boy or his rather odd question, she looked at his finger before glancing back at him in mild shock, “That depends,” another blink before looking around for anyone that might be the boy’s parents, the ‘Assassin’ in the darkest pits of her mind was paying close attention to the ANBU, they had stilled when the boy showed up, it was curious what this ‘invasion’ could mean. Spying no one that looked remotely like they cared about the boy, and catching more than one cold shoulder, the trader’s daughter turned back to the boy’s curious whisker marked face, “do you mean ‘Okami’ as in a business woman, ‘Ookami’ as in a wolf, or ‘O-Kami’ as in a ‘great goddess’?”

“Hehe!” the boy just gave the wide face splitting smile, the pale foreign woman unable to resist its charm and smiling a bit herself at his openness, “You looked smart, Nee-chan,” a white brow piqued at the boy’s sudden familiar address, “not a lot of people notice that, and _very_ few pick up on the third one!” a hand wave and gesture like what he’d said was some big secret.

The woman’s white brows couldn’t help but tilting up in an amused look as the smile on her lips picked tighter, “I suppose,” she demurely scratched the side of her cheek, closing her eyes in a resigned smile, “It’s just a bit of wordplay, but I suppose not many people think about it,” a pale finger ended up at her chin as she looked up in thought, spotting the fourth ANBU hidden on the roof overlook across from them, “Huh, I wonder why that is?”

“I knew you’d get it!!” grey eyes traveled back down to the excitable boy, his smile still splitting his face, “A beautiful white-haired maiden would of course know such a thing!!”

A white brow rose, “ ‘White-haired maiden?’” while Katsuri was simply blinking in curiosity the Assassin snapped to; that was an oddly-specific description, and far too close to home to be a fluke. She immediately needed to know where the boy heard such a thing and why, “Where did you hear such a thing?” she asked curiously, not letting any of the Assassin’s dark thoughts slip into her outward persona.

“Jiji!!” the boy jumped up and down before grabbing her hand, “You **_have_** to come see him!!”

“Ah-what?!” Katsuri had very little choice in the matter as the excitable boy merely took her hand and pulled her up to her feet, she barely had the chance to set her cup down before he started tugging her in a certain direction. The white haired woman was spooked, what the hell had gotten into this boy?! The Assassin on the other hand saw this as a perfect opportunity, it just had to play things right, too eager and _they_ would be suspicious, a little resistance on the persona’s part should suffice, “Wh-what are you doing?!” she quickly dug in her heels causing the boy to halt due to her superior size.

He looked up to her with this pouting scowl and his eyes closed like a fox, “C’mon Nee-chan, Jiji’s gotta see ya!!”

A shiver went down the woman’s spine as a _slight_ twitch went to her left eye, “That sounds really creepy…” for a moment the woman’s travel-senses were tingling, it was almost like the boy was trying to drag her off somewhere to be ‘picked-up’ only to be sold off on some slave market… the Assassin could only agree as those things ‘did’ exist.

“C’mon~” the boy shook her hand, adding something of a weird whine to his pleading voice, “He’s not mean or nothing, he just tells a buncha stories,” there was something sad about the boy’s face, pleading for her to come with him despite the smile, pout and everything else about him being overly exuberant. Katsuri couldn’t put her finger on it, the Assassin didn’t trust it… but something in that look on his face tugged at ‘Kemui’s’ heart.

The older woman sighed, her shoulders dropping as a look came over her face that was neither her persona nor her job-oriented self… the boy’s blonde head tilted to the side just a bit as the smile dropped slightly, it must have been enough of a change that he noticed it, and if he did the ANBU certainly would, as the paranoid side of her mind was screaming at her while the ‘civilian’ remained oblivious. But Kemui didn’t care, this boy reminded her of her student in some way, it must have been his age, he didn’t look much older than she was, or perhaps it was his trusting attitude, boldly just walking up to a stranger and telling them to join him… kind of like how Jin was when she first met him. The woman in the foreign kimono knelt down, still holding the boy’s hand while just staring at him with that odd look, “You remind me of someone…”

“Eh?” blonde brows just scrunched up, giving him this punkish look, “Like who?”

The woman gave him a smile similar to his own, “A friend I once knew, he was a loud little boy too,” her free hand reached out and poked him on the forehead.

“Hey!” the blonde’s bottom lip stuck out as he rubbed his head with the other hand, watching as the woman stood up, “What wassat for?”

“Oh, nothing…” Katsuri dusted off her kimono, just shaking her head and swinging the boy’s hand, “didn’t you have someone you wanted me to meet?”

That wide face-splitting grin returned to the boy’s face, “That’s right, Nee-chan, ya gotta see Jiji!!” he tugged on her hand dragging her as fast as she would let him take her, the little boy shouting to the heavens all the things he could think of while the woman laughed lightly behind her hand tugging him back every now and then as he went too far. It wasn’t long before they found themselves in one of the woods not far off, the ‘Assassin’ easily recognizing it as one of the many ‘training grounds’ the Konoha shinobi used and slightly wondering what someone with no shinobi affiliation would be doing out here.


	4. Yorihi Really Hates Bats...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While training in the caves...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon - another thing eventually cut out and/or replaced with something more serious, takes place while Yorihi is training, just a really silly joke...

“I’m starting to think Tougemichi has no idea what he’s doing…” a certain young girl gripped as at the moment she was hanging from a ceiling, pumping chakra to her feet to keep her stuck to the surface, and for all she knew, as the old man said, ‘hung over a fifty foot gap with ten foot spikes underneath’ for as long as he felt like leaving her there.

There was a growl from her feline companion, not that she could see him, with or without the bandana in the black abyss that was this doomsday cave she had been stuck in for so long with that old man making them _do_ ridiculous stuff like this! The growl permeated the entire room…

“No, we can’t just toss him off a cliff,” was her quick response.

Another growling babble from the ethereal feline.

“No! We can’t just stab him in his sleep either…”

A short pause that she was sure the thing was glaring at her before another of his ‘brilliant ideas’.

“How would that affect him?” her brows lowered as she turned towards the just as hanging kitty even if neither could see the expression on her face, “He’s _already_ blind!”

Witty snort.

There was the sound of the girl clapping her hands on her pants, since hanging with them down kind of defeated the original gesture of throwing them ‘up’ in frustration. Silence prevailed between them for a good long minute before Yorihi just seemed to sigh, “At least this isn’t like that whole ‘Bat’ thing from last month…”

Just as the statement left her mouth a horde of bats few out of nowhere, screeching in their high-frequency chatter causing the two to still, freak out slightly, lose concentration and fall off the ceiling.

Well the fifty foot drop part was ‘right’, but not so much about the spikes. Cats luckily always land on their feet… Konoichi in-training-

“Oof!”

-not so much.

Bachiko sat up glaring at his master while she remained lying flat on the ground with her arms held out, “Not one word…” she could just _feel_ his large vibrant blue eyes narrow on her and his ears lower in accusation. A hand angrily pointed at the scowling feline, knowing they’d have to start over from the beginning, “Not! One! Word!”


	5. Reki really loves smoking...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Yorihi's fight with Omoi and Karui, her 'parents' have a bit of an argument only for Reki to step in... she's really cranky for obvious reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon-ish - an alternate version of how the start of 'Swirling Tides' would have been had i not decided to scrap all of it and start over, in this version it starts from Kemui's pov and her getting into a fight with the Raikage... in the actual chapter you may notice there's a comment about them 'arguing' in the back, this is where its from... also, don't take away Reki's cigarettes...

The ‘presentation ceremony’ was over and the majority of the 26 gathered jounin Commanders, 10 ANBU Commanders and whoever else was there to bear witness to the gathered enclave’s decision were filing out.

Yorihi, of course, was still the primary center of attention…

Kemui passively watched as the ‘Liger’ Commander picked her up and tossed her around in the air, bellowing his approvals of the ‘chibi-oni’ as he’d come to call her. The ‘Minx’ Commander leaned down offering some illgot ‘advice’ to the young girl that made her look rather confused as the large old man and konoichi started bickering, causing the tall thin Commander of Company P to shake his head as if having a headache. The ANBU Commanders of Company 2 and 6, still in their full attire and masks offered her sweets without a word before disappearing… she’d have to check them to make sure they weren’t laced with anything. The assassin was quite pleased when the young girl continued to look rather confused before stuffing the candies away and not eating them immediately… ‘ _fond_ ’ memories of certain delicacies from the caves came to mind and part of the white woman thanked Tougemichi for teaching the girl to look before she ate… figuratively speaking of course.

Bee and Yugito seemed to hover around the girl as her standard shield, shooing away the ‘suspicious ones’ or laughing with others, like the liger commander, who easily lifted Bee up in a death-grip of a bear-hug before laughing and jumping off down the hole in the floor… the Commander of Company H was quite… eccentric. The minx and thin man left quickly after, through what was left of the door, along with many others. The ‘Triad’, Kumo’s top teachers of the academy and Kemui’s current colleagues had left long ago, their assessment done and made. She still had to figure out how to add her input into the girl’s training at the academy; the ‘crash course’ didn’t really have room for a ‘counter-intelligence’ class…

“You look like you’re thinking quite hard on something?” for a moment there sounded like a jovial tone in the large man’s low tones.

A slim white brow did _not_ twitch, “I’m wondering where you got the idea to have the Enclave here when she returned?” there was an obvious bite in the white woman’s voice, though with how low she spoke only those that truly knew her would be able to pick it out. The sharp as steel glare in her eyes directed solely at the Raikage… not as subtle, “I thought it had been agreed to keep her low profile?” definitely a growl there….

To which the large Oni only seemed to pout at, slightly, “She’s my daughter,” he pointed a thumb directly at his chest, pout increasing as the woman’s eyes sharpened on him, “Hmp!” and now with the childish crossing of arms and using his obvious height to _try_ and intimidate her… _try_ , “They were going to find out about her eventually…”

“ _Later_ …” yes, that growl sounded like it got deeper as the white woman faced the large _trying_ to be imposing man directly, her own intimidation in full effect, “When she would be better equipped to _handle it!_ ” Kemui did not raise her voice, repeat; she _did **not**_ raise her voice.

The Raikage looked about to growl himself, those large arms uncrossing and placing his hands flat on his hips, “She handled them _fine!_ ”

Steel glared harder, “She nearly _lost **control!**_ ” okay; those white brows were threateningly low, “What my master put her through worked better than either of us can comprehend! And we just put a highly _unstable_ child with that much chakra in a life-threatening situation, and you want to call that a success!” growling, not raising her voice… though with the quickly disappearing distance between the two she might as well been yelling directly into the large Oni’s ear…

Threatening beady black eyes under low blonde brows were dangerously close to the small growling white wolf, “And she did excellent!” he drew his hand in front of him and started counting off the ‘good things’ that’d happened, “No one’s dead, everyone’s impressed, the Enclave approves, the Triad approve, and-”

A pale white hand grabbed his larger one lowering it as steel glared directly at black, “And none of that was _necessary_ to get her in the academy!” she looked at him seriously while he _seriously_ pouted, “All you’ve done is ensure her time there will be more difficult, you _know_ what being designated the ‘challenger’ means!” there was something shimmering in her eyes just past all the steel, something old and long buried.

The Raikage only had a moment to look into her eyes and marvel at the long-lost thing he found there… before the _reminder_ actually sunk in. He opened his mouth to respond but nothing had the chance to leave…

“Soooo…” the ‘arguing’ pair turned in unison to probably the last person that should have seen this, Reki certainly didn’t need anything else to hold over her, “is this the part in the old married couple routine where you two just strip off your clothes and fix everything with extreme makeup sex?” a wide wicked grin spread on the desk clerk’s face as instead of sputtering denials or being embarrassed both high ranking Kumo-nin just glared all sorts of bloody murder at her. She took out her unlit cigarette and waved her hand around, gesturing between them, specifically the joined hands, “Cause honestly, I can come back later…”

Kemui and Jin _did **not**_ immediately throw their hands away from each other, if only to not add more blame to Reki’s apparent cause, and simply calmly, slowly, let go of each other, straightened up and distinctly moved two inches further apart… still primarily glaring all sorts of evil murderous death on the desk clerk.

Reki merely shrugged, “What a waste…” then replaced her sadly unlit cigarette, glared down her nose at it, then them extremely flatly, “You both seriously need to get laid…”

Kemui was the first to lower the priority of ‘glaring’ enough to comment, “Were _you_ the origin of those rumors?”

The older woman merely snorted as such a thing was beneath her, “Please, the way you two carry on, you don’t _need_ me to help,” a smirk spread on Reki’s flat face, “if it were me, I’d be gallivanting off about the absolute sheer _lack_ of sex lives you two have,” Another snort as her face returned to passive, “I’ve got proof and neither of you will ever find it…” maybe one or two snickers.

The Raikage was rightfully rubbing a hand along his brow, a distinct headache suddenly appearing.

Kemui just stared flatter than her colleague, all seriousness, “There are children present,” and she didn’t just mean Yorihi over listening to her uncle and aunt argue of kami knew what, but could sense her son the moment the boy stepped into the throne room, skittishly following the old bastard. He’d yet to leave the black haired woman’s side and seemed more than a little scared at his current placement, not sure whether to go to his mother, remain with the older woman he’d come in with or towards his new ‘friend’ and the silly people she was listening to…

Coal black eyes just stared flatly at the shorter white haired woman, “Yea, about those,” she made a shooing motion with her free hand, “Get rid of them so I can get back to what makes me less of a bitch.” To top off the point she pulled out the long awaited lighter and clicked it on right in front of her face, barely a centimeter from the sadly unlit cigarette in her mouth.

There was a stare down of epic proportions as grey met black for all of a second, before a scowl tugged at the assassin’s face and she walked towards the tattooed woman’s side, holding her hand out to tap her son’s shoulder to guide him _away_ from the grouchy nicotine-addicted old woman, “come on,” she said softly as she guided her somewhat frightened son away. His black eyes were going from one person to the next so unsure what to do, before just huddling towards his mother with the weird cat still held in his arms.

The Raikage watched the white woman guide her shy son towards the gaggle surrounding his daughter, primarily the two jinchuuriki as all the commanders had left at this point. He partly wondered if it was he and Kemui ‘arguing’ or Reki’s bad mood that sent the high-ranking jounin skittering off to their own commands since they normally hung around for no reason, either worked for him. Now that all the ‘formality’ was done and over with, no matter how much it annoyed and angered his trusted assassin, it was something that would have had to been dealt with _eventually_ , and as annoying as it was, Reki was right, it wasn’t like he was off siring heirs left, right, and center… and Yorihi was a good kid, shy and skittish from the moment he’d laid eyes on her, but something strong hidden underneath. He’d be proud to face her one day.

For now, he had a grouchy desk clerk to deal with…

Beady black eyes spotted the small strand of smoke rising from the thankfully lit cigarette placed firmly in the older woman’s mouth. He decided on his brother’s approach for once, “Moody much?”

The black haired woman just grunted, pulling out the ash tray she carried around with the lighter and held it with practiced ease to catch whatever ash fell, “There’s a reason your dad set me to desk duty,” black eyes met and while Jin knew the woman was being sarcastic he wasn’t ignorant of the sharp bite in her eyes. Then she snorted and broke their eye contact with a light shrug and slow drag, “Course it’s also why no one’s bother to even **_try_** hanging a ‘no smoking’ sign within fifty feet of my desk…”

“You’d probably just burn them with whatever cigarette’s hanging out of your mouth,” he’d said it flatly and with no emotion but the desk clerk was giving a cheeky grin like it was the funniest thing in the world. He wouldn’t doubt she’d probably done it.


	6. White Walls and Ceiling...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kemui visits Yorihi's prospective partner in the hospital...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon - a scene left on the cutting room floor, i like it a lot, i just ended up not having a place for it as i decided to go in a different direction with the chapter 'Promises'... one of the reasons i like this is it shows how Kemui and Uenkai interacted, as well as showing off this weird side character i literally only refer to as 'that one male nurse' :3

If there was one thing to be said about all hospitals everywhere it was that they were white and disturbingly clean.

It was something a certain white haired assassin decided to focus on as she sat perfectly still in one of the lobbies, arms crossed over her over-the-left-shoulder triangular vest and back perfectly straight not even touching the back of her chair. The pale woman’s eyes were closed, head slightly tilted down as all she could do was listen to the goings on of daily routine at the Kumo main hospital. Without seeing she could easily feel the nurses scurry past her, both male and female give her a single glance, stiffen and either attempt passing through the room quickly as possible or turn away taking the long way around the circular building. The idea that her muted presence still instilled fear in people she’d never spoken to and only knew her by whatever her reputation was nowadays was honestly quite silly. At her age she’d killed more people than most of them would ever meet, been more places than any of them would ever see, yet she probably talked half as many words as any of them ever had, and the number of people she cared to remember she could count on her hands. Solidarity had always been a facet of her life, standing on one’s own feet with nothing to fall back on nor being relied on… now she had a son, a man that sought her experience, wisdom and presence, a younger woman that admired her, treading a line that she never should have allowed to be crossed, an older woman that looked out for her, an idiot that spoke plainly to her and a young girl she had no idea what in the world she was doing talking to…

Perhaps sitting in hospitals, alone enough to think, was a bad idea…

“A-ah m-ma-” someone’s presence broke into her sphere…

Steely grey eyes slowly opened, raising enough to look the male nurse in the face, apparently scaring the man enough to stop mid-word and squeak. The white haired woman knew eight years ago she would have been thrilled by the man’s response, recognizing his inferiority and nuisance of presence… now… now she found it rather tedious.

The woman quickly stood up, arms still crossed as she shook her head slightly, allowing her four long thin braids to slip back over her shoulder and fall down her back, as the ones that framed her face straightened out. She stood tall, stern, rigid as her pale face rose just enough to look the man in the face. He was a good head taller than her yet seemed to squirm like she towered over him as a giant, “Kemui,” she answered his unasked nor needed question, “and what is his progress?”

Without thought the man took several steps back, that primitive fear of a dangerous animal creeping up his spine, a feeling most people seemed to acquire around the last assassin, either from conscious thought or instinct was anyone’s guess. He visibly gulped before assuming a bow, offering the woman respect out of fear, “K-Kemui-s-san, ah-um…” his dark eyes glanced up for all of a moment, catching her steely gaze, only to squeak again, realizing he was wasting the assassin’s time, “GOOD!! T-the-a-ah the prognosis is good… t-the boy woke up s-several days ago and h-has shown no i-ill effects,” this time when he looked up he noticed the woman wasn’t looking at him, garnering a sigh of relief as he stood a bit straight, “A-already his recovery shows promise and while not one hundred percent, he will be field-worthy in a month…”

“Good,” the pale woman made an abrupt turn, walking down the residents’ hall, knowing the frightful nurse would follow her.

“A-ah!!” the man jerked to his full height, quickly following the woman, “Y-you’re not supposed-K-Kemui-sa-!!”

“Quiet,” her voice was low, soft even, but there was enough of a threatening bite in it to make the man freeze up. Maybe it was her voice; maybe it was the glace over her shoulder that had him scared stiff, neither mattered to her as she continued towards her destination.

Four rooms down and on the right, she came across a door with a name on the placard next to it:

‘Kumori Uenkai’

 Without hesitation the intimidating woman reached out, grasping the handle lightly and sliding the door open.

Inside was what one would expect of a hospital room; white walls, white floors and ceiling, a white bed in the center with white sheets. What one would probably not expect but was rather normal of Kumo-nin kept in captivity for too long, was a young man in the center of the room, one arm tucked behind his back while the other was out in front of him, pushing up and down with his legs spread out behind him… in a hospital gown.

The barest of smirks picked at the assassin’s lips at the sight before the male nurse that had been following her rushed around the still woman moving intimidatingly towards the boy.

“Kumori-san!!” the taller man had his hands on his hips, “You’ve been told time and again, training can wait for when you’re in rehab!!” as was somewhat ‘normal’ by Kumo standards of medicine, the orderly nurse bashed the kid on the back of the head, causing him to fall flat to the ground mid push-up. The nurse had an obvious frown on his face as his orange brows furrowed in the center, fist raised as he barked one last order, “You got the energy to train you can drag yourself back to bed!!”  with that the man turned, scowl still on his face as he walked back towards the door with what must have been his normal amount of confidence.

It was at this point Kemui realized the man’s dark eyes were actually red, now that she could finally _see_ them, as she took a step back, nodding politely as the nurse exited the room, “His progress has indeed improved.”

The man’s back stiffened and in an instant he was back to being cowardly and meek, again the assassin couldn’t see those proud eyes, “O-of c-course, K-Kemui-san…” he gave a meek bow, “E-excuse me… I have rounds to do…” it was odd that he remained in the bow until the shorter white haired woman gave a curt uncaring nod, stepping into the boy’s room, before the nurse quickly closed the door and went about his business.

To say Kemui was amused was an understatement; it was not uncommon for members of the Utsurabon to haunt the walls of Kumo’s hospital, and in just one encounter with a member of the red-eyed natives of Kumo she was starting to see their appeal. Seichi had always been a quiet man, stoic in the insanity Jimei tended to bring with him so she had paid little attention to the man outside official functions. After becoming a teacher and more exposed to members of his kin, some part of her found amusement that he was seemingly the most stoic among them. They all had a tendency towards humble service balanced by brash familiar attitude seemed as common among them as their red-eyes. Perhaps her subordinate was the same way, just too subtle to show that nature so obviously around her...

A groan from the floor brought her focus back to the present and the boy she’d come to check on. Strong tan arms pushed the young man off the floor as he moved to a crouch, reflexively rubbing a hand through his short teal hair, checking the lump the nurse had given him even if the worst damage seemed to come from his head hitting the floor then the man’s fist. Dark teal eyes looked up when familiar black plated sandals attached to leg guards stepped into his view. Following the trail of black and grey that lead to the woman’s pale face, his eyes locked with her steely grey ones. The hand on his head lowered as his face became neutral, “Kemui-sama.”

The woman gave the barest of smiles, “I see you are improving Uenkai-kun.”

The boy looked down with a slight flush to his cheeks, adamantly pushing himself up. A hand came to his shoulder when he started to waver causing him to look up again into the woman’s grey eyes, before looking down somewhat embarrassed at his state, “Thank you…”

The hand was quickly removed as she spared the boy his pride, crossing her arms and taking several steps away, “is it wise for you to be training already?”

That pout that reminded her of her Lord came over the young man’s face, “there’s nothing else to do here but train…” she couldn’t deny that, her natural response to hospitals was finding a way out as quickly as possible, namely because it was so stifling and boring. Most Kumo-nin had that kind of response to being anywhere cooped up for too long, they were an energetic people, had to constantly be out _doing_ something or they’d go marginally insane, if they weren’t already. The boy turned towards the bed, leaning on it slightly as one of his hands started shaking, the other grabbing it firmly trying to not let it be too noticeable.

Grey eyes caught everything, “Are the tremors still bothering you?”

His shaking hand became a fist as he forced it to stop; only managing to lessen it, “It won’t be a problem.”

The veteran’s steely eyes watched him seemingly passive. She knew the signs, reoccurring bodily flashbacks, even if the mind could move forward, or push forward in an attempt to ignore the problem, the body rarely gave up so quickly. When the boy finally managed to get the tremor to stop she finally decided to speak, “You don’t have to do this, if you don’t want to…”

This time it was his dark teal eyes that appeared steely as he looked up at the woman, “No,” a deeper then average tone spoke quietly, “I want this…” the frown and way he looked down made it hard to believe him.

Kemui simply continued to watch him, taking in every facet of emotion his body revealed that his face tried to hide. Kumori Uenkai was a hard boy to read, it was actually one of the qualities the last assassin had come to respect from the boy after their few short meetings. Of the pile of applicants given to her as ‘acceptable possible partners for subject B0’ by R&D, this teal haired and eyed boy had not been on the list. Arbitrarily Kemui had delegated some of the screening to her student Mabui, as the white haired woman may or may not have been bogged down with some ‘home issues’ and getting to the end of term needing to grades some frivolous papers she couldn’t pawn off on Seichi, not that she would ever admit to such a thing. So Mabui had been given the list, Yorihi’s scores and stats from the data R&D and the Triad had collected and was told to find the most suitable match. Kemui had thought this would be excellent training for the girl as the Raikage had the ‘last say’ in these partner decisions, but being the man he was often sent it off to whoever was being his ‘assistant’ at the time, there may or may not have been a few late nights involving lots of coffee and papers stacked to the ceiling with Joshu.

The fact that the next morning Kemui found a neat little pile reduced to ten applicants from R&D’s suggestions and three ‘non-R&D’ applicant files resulted in a raised brow. Upon opening each file the assassin had found detailed side notes and highlighted specs that were why each was worth the suggestion, the three ‘non-R&D’ applicants certainly had much more notes and far more highlights. Discussing them with the junior assistant had given Kemui much more relevant ‘field data’ on their personalities and short histories. Kumori Uenkai had been at the bottom of the list due to his comatose state at the time with a note stating ‘if he wakes up in time’.

From Mabui’s notes and R&D specs he was an interesting candidate, thus Kemui’s frequent lurking about Kumo’s main hospital.

Kumori Uenkai was a hard boy to read, he had been part of her first class at the Academy, and while not particularly boasting any qualities the Masters were looking for as exceptional, Kemui had noticed the boy’s seriousness for his age. He took everything he learned to heart, listening between words for the true intentions, and a natural instinct to adapt to situations that came off as somewhat clairvoyant. While not the strongest, fastest, smartest, or with the largest chakra reserves or control, the boy had a cumulative knowledge and instinct that made him balanced and formidable. He was one of the few students she felt actually _learned_ something from her class and better yet understood its purpose to some degree.

The girl that had become his partner had been similar, what he lacked, she had made up for, what she failed to noticed he picked up on, the two had been an excellent match for partners that could have been an incredible team.

If they had had the time…

Abruptly the boy’s fist went into the blanket at his side, a slight growl marring his face.

Grey eyes watched him passively, “It will take time,” her hand unconsciously clinched into a fist under her crossed arms, “You have to get used to living with the memory…”

The frown on the boy’s face became more apparent as he refused to look at her, “It won’t interfere.”

Closing her eyes, Kemui gave a curt nod, “I don’t doubt,” opening them again as she gave him a solid look, taking in as many details as possible, the seriousness of her voice increased, “this won’t be a normal mission…”

“I know…” the frown remained.

“Once started you can’t decline,” a warning carried in the older woman’s voice.

Teal brows lowered as he finally got his hand to still, raising his head enough to glare at the older woman, not out of disrespect but out of serious understanding and challenge, “I won’t let what happened to Sasayaki happen to anyone else, your student especially…”

Kemui could see the seriousness in the boy’s face, the conviction of someone who’d lost something far too precious to lose anything ever again. He would be a perfect match. With that the white woman gave curt nod, “Very well,” before turning towards the door, “Prepare yourself to the best of your ability, she graduates in a month…”

His hand clinched as he watched the woman’s back, those strange thin white braids catching his attention, “What about sensei?”

A sole grey eye turned to look at the boy over her shoulder, “Your sensei will be dealt with,” a pale hand settled on the door handle as the woman paused a moment, debating about telling him more or not, “Depending on our investigation, you both may still be learning under them,” this time she turned to face him fully, serious grey eyes taking in the boy, “Would you be fine with that?”

“You have some plan don’t you?” grey eyes merely stared at the boy as he stared at the woman, trying to find any detail that might give her away. Of course, he found none, “If you say that’s how it is, then I’m fine with that,” his hand clutched in his lap, “I trust you, Kemui-sama…”

A softer look came over the assassin as she turned away; shaking her head and finally opening the door, “You really shouldn’t…” was the last thing she said before leaving the room.

Uenkai sat alone in his overly white room, hands clinched tight in his lap staring at them, “I know…”


	7. So this Graduation thing?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Masters of the Kumo Academy discuss the upcoming graduation while doing paperwork, like normal...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon-ish - like 'White Walls' this was cut from what would have been the same chapter, 'Promises', during the Academy Arc, but as i decided to handle that differently this too got scrapped... even though i love how Moe acts here~

“So…” a certain midget drawled from her corner of the round table in the loftiest room in the Academy tower, “Term week,” narrow dark green eyes turned on her companions who were, as normal during ‘paperwork day’ actually _doing_ their paperwork, busily busting through their piles, now bigger thanks to the end of the semester coming closer, while she, the insane midget, slacked in her corner stacks left untouched, “Thoughts?”

Thin and small black eyes turned to the midget with the barest of raised brows. It was not unusual to them for Moe to not have touched her piles of complaints, like normal, but it was odd for her to start a conversation without some damning complaint about paper, its use as a medium, and how they should burn it all to the ground, last part optional.

“What?” the genjutsu Master waved a pale hand in front of her face, “Something on my face?”

Brows rose higher.

Ruri was the one to set her latest note down, seemed a student was faking illness to get out of training, nothing a quick trip to R&D wouldn’t fix, “You’re not damning paperwork?”

“I’m not _doing_ it either!” Moe waved her hand indignantly, surprisingly **_not_** knocking over one of her piles as her narrowed eyes stared at her fellow female teacher.

This time Kuri’s brow rose higher, actually pausing in his quick pace of dealing with lower teacher complaints to look the smaller woman in the face, “You are upset?”

A rather obvious pout came over the genjutsu Master as she leaned back in her chair crossing her arms, “Hell yea I’m _upset_ ,” pout increasing to adorable levels, “We’re almost done!!” her hands were up and clinching and unclenching, “And I haven’t utterly _destroyed_ a student yet!!”

Brows lowered, that was rather _normal_ for the insane midget. The other two returned to their work.

Moe gave a huff, recrossing her arms, frowning pout marring her cute face, “Oh goddamnit…”

If she paid attention she may have noticed Ruri and Kuri’s ears twitch in her direction, as that was about as much as they felt like paying attention to her whining for today.

A grumble from the midget.

With a heavy sigh dark tan hands set her brush and paper down, completely unable to focus on inane inquiries while the little psychopath was in a tizzy. Folding her hands in front of her the tall blonde woman turned her tattooed face to the pouting pale woman, “What is bothering you?”

The pout did not leave the woman’s face, “We haven’t revised the roster…”

Two sets of flat eyes just stared at her, resulting in more pouting.

A _slight_ growl may or may not have escaped the little psychopath as she crossed her arms, “We kind of have to do it…” dark green eyes narrowed when the other two didn’t so much as give her a glance, “Cause we have this ‘off’ student…” eyes narrowing even more, “kind of important…”

Shuffling of papers was all that was heard in the pin drop silent room.

Then Moe flipped the table… papers went everywhere.

Oddly the only response this got out of the other two was a collective sigh, hands still up and in the position of holding brushes to papers that were no longer there.

Those vindictive dark green eyes narrowed on the two in front of her, “Ready to listen?”

Another sigh as Ruri simply leaned back in her chair as comfortable as possible, frowning at the papers littering the floor, “I shouldn’t be surprised, I really shouldn’t…”

Kuri managed to catch several papers out of the air and was sorting them on his lap, thin eyes closed and shaking his chubby face slightly, “You really shouldn’t…”

The casualness of the younger partners was actually driving Moe up a wall, the midget sociopath jumped to her feet growling, “Auragh!!” fists clinched up to about chin-level as she just glared at the two, “Seriously!! We need to figure out what to do about the girl!!”

The other two spared her a glance, looked at one another-

“Stop it!!” a pale hand pointed harshly in front of the midget, catching the other two’s attention as they raised respective brows, “Stop it right now!!”

Brows rose higher.

That finger wiggled intimidatingly, “Both of you, having your secret eyebrow conversations!!” her own so red-it-seemed-black brow twitched, “You _will_ speak to me like the respected equal I am!!”

This whole scene may have been slightly more intimidating if the adorable woman glare-pouting at them didn’t even reach their collective chins… and she was the one standing.

Small black and thin eyes just stared at her flatly.

“Stop it!!” the more she growled at them the more her ‘cuteness’ kicked in and the less serious the other two Masters could take her…

It got to the point Ruri had to actually raise one muscular tattooed hand to hide the rising smirk on her dark lips.

Kuri, ever the peace-maker… even if he _may_ have been finding Moe’s little tantrum _slightly_ amusing… glanced at his partner.

Again the two seemed to share a glance, causing the so-dark-almost-black-red-head to growl in frustration about ‘secret codes’ and other nonsensical things the others didn’t bother translating.

Small black eyes rolled, “Fine,” the tall muscular woman gave a huff, “I’ll just tell her…”

The tornado that was Moe and papers flying seemed to eerily stop as the little half-moon-speckled psychopath halted suddenly, staring eerily at her female coworker.

A blonde brow rose, slightly disturbed, but the taller woman quickly brushed it off, “We’re not the ones deciding her pairing…”

“What…” there may or may not have been a twitch from the midget.

A _slight_ growl from the fierce-looking tattooed woman, “We’re not in charge of her pairing,” tiny black eyes took in as the midget continued giving her a suspicious look, “R &D would be pissed at us if we suddenly changed the roster after their meticulous calculations…”

“Which have been quite accurate,” Kuri chimed in, sorting more papers in his lap, already there were three neat piles around his chair. The women raised brows at that.

Ruri shook her head, “As I was saying,” she coughed into her hand, “they are getting all the test data and field reports we’ve been covering on the girl to gauge her progress and potential,” a dark tan hand waved, “As it stands she will likely be paired with an older genin, just to keep abilities even, and you know as well as I do the Raikage will likely want her gaining as much experience as possible as quickly as possible…”

“Undoubtedly,” another neat little stack as the man set about finishing up a note he’d been in the middle of before Moe’s tantrum.

Again, the women just stared at his strangely calm behavior.

“Okay, that’s just weird,” a so-red-almost-black brow quirked at the large chubby man’s unflappable attitude, before returning with that scowl on the significantly larger woman, “And neither of you thought to _tell_ me this?”

An uninterested shrug from the muscular woman, “I’d discussed it with Kemui-sensei after our training session with the girl, and the woman claimed to be handling the arrangement.”

Flat dark green eyes were the tall woman’s only response as Moe put a hand on her hip flatly, “Of course she is…”

The women may or may not have glared at one another for a moment, neither willing to voice the obvious difference of opinion they had about _certain_ topics about the white haired assassin and the Raikage’s only daughter.

The sound of papers shuffling managed to catch their attention, “As it stands we have little influence over the girl’s future,” Kuri meticulously set the papers to the side in another pile, fetching a few more in his reach and sorting them out while the women just stared at him, “Our role as providers of the basics and guiding her on **_how_** to use said abilities has been satisfied along with fundamental knowledge and experience with others here…”  Ruri’s blonde brows furrowed at her companion, trying to find what he was meaning under his words while Moe just looked at him adorably stumped. The large chubby man simply gave them both a pleasant partial smile, “If anything, I’m sure we can send reports to her father or caretaker, providing our own personal suggestions and observations in an attempt to sway their judgment,” thin eyes glanced at the various stacks of paper surrounding his chair, “We are after all still responsible for filing her registration…”

“Provided she passes the tests…” Moe said flippantly, hand on hip and much more calm and back to her normal ambivalence then earlier.

Small black eyes rolled as the tall woman leaned on her arm propped on one of the armrests of her chair, “You honestly doubt the girl can pass the tests?” a snort, “All of the students from these classes are more than ready…”

“Pfft,” the psycho-midget snorted, “You always say that, yet we always have those that fail…”

Those tiny black eyes cut sharply to the pale short woman, “being _able_ to pass and actually doing it are two different things,” the tall woman ruffled in her seat, “You should know that better than anyone…”

Those dark green eyes rolled, “Pfft… no kidding,” she proper her arms behind her head, “Dumb kids are more than ready for my tricks, but they always second-guess themselves and start freaking out…”

“You do have that effect on people,” the tall woman remarked snidely.

There may or may not have been a grunt from the male member, but whether it was in agreement or not was anyone’s guess.


	8. Reki has a talk...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xiao gives Reki an examination... it goes... somewhat well?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Non-canon (for now) - would take place when Xiao's 17, so about two years after the Chuunin Exams, the idea was given to me when another reader on FFN apparently shipped Reki/Uzushio despite how much they HATE each other... so i got ideas and this happened after those~

Xiao rolled out from behind her desk in her rolly-chair, sliding across the smooth sterile floor in what was effectively _her_ exam room as she was the doctor that primarily used it. Her red eyes skimmed over the file in her hand as she read the data again for the fourth time, stopping her chair so that she was sitting directly in front of her patient who was sitting with her head in her hands on the exam table.

It was quiet for a second as Xiao skimmed the papers again, blinked and sighed, flipping the damn thing closed and sinking into her chair, “I dunno what to tell you Reki-san,” those red eyes opened lazily as the woman’s shoulders visibly slumped, “But according to all these tests… you’re pregnant.”

Silence.

Then there was a groan as the older desk clerk pushed her hands on her face and made some kind of muffled yell, causing Xiao to squeak and jump in her seat, before lowering her hands and staring into the air above the dusky-pinkette with flat black eyes, “How the fuck am I pregnant?” those bored looking eyes lowered to the medic, “Aren’t I too old?”

“Technically, no,” one of the girl’s slim eyebrows quirked up, “Depending on linage determines relative average lifespan which will determine ‘how long’ a woman has to be viable for pregnancy,” those bored thin black eyes told the young doctor the words went right over the desk clerks head. Xiao sighed, “Ugh, fine,” she sat back in her rolly-chair in a huff, red eyes borrowing into her patient, “Do you still get your period?”

“Uh… yea,” a black brow went up, not that the older woman seemed all that concerned, “I know I haven’t hit menopause yet…”

Xiao’s eyes were suddenly flatter than the older woman’s, “well there you go, you are still capable of getting pregnant…”

Another pitiful groan from the retired ANBU as she rather pathetically slumped, head again firmly in her hands, “I knew there was a reason I didn’t feel like smoking…”

Absently the medic nodded; flipping open the woman’s file again noting the strained marking from the previous doctor about this particular woman **_NOT_** smoking, “Everyone’s a bit worried when **_you_** suddenly stop smoking…”

“It’s not that bad,” was Reki’s immediate and rather pitiful come back, even she knew that was a boldfaced lie.

Red eyes just stared flatly, determining the comment wasn’t worth justifying with a response beyond that. When the older woman slumped pitifully again those red eyes went back to the file, “I take it you didn’t smoke during your previous pregnancies?”

Black eyes rolled, “I never smoke around my kids…”

A dusk-pink brow rose as Xiao glanced at the woman over the papers, “You smoke around Yorihi?”

Flat black eyes were her response, “She’s not _my_ kid,” there may or may not have been an indignant snort.

Xiao couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at her lips, both the young Oni and the desk clerk had extreme ways of looking at the world and how they classified people. If Xiao didn’t know better she’d say the two truly were blood related, “So any idea on who the father is?”

Another indignant snort, “You make it sound like I’m sleeping around every night?” the two just flatly stared at one another for a good long minute, mirroring flat bored looks that spoke volumes of potential accusations. Then Reki pulled up one knee and propped her chin on it, “Do you honestly think I’m like that?”

The dusky-pinkette gave a flippant shrug, “Do you know how many konoichi I get in here that are ‘suddenly’ pregnant with no idea who the father is?” her eyes were that same bored flat while her hands came up in appropriate air quotes before flatly looking at the older woman, “It’s not me being judgmental, it’s just become standard practice to ask…” then she turned fully toward Reki and a bit more of a serious tone entered her voice, “With this being a later pregnancy there’s higher risk for all kinds of complication, the more I know about the kid’s genetic makeup the more I have to work with and prepare for, such as potential risks to both you and the child.”

Black eyes just blinked at the young medic.

This time Xiao snorted, “You, of all people, should understand the importance of a kid’s history right?” there was something sharp and knowing about the dusky-pinkette’s eyes that made Reki narrow her own suspiciously, “After all you’ve already had two kids… were there any complications there?”

Black eyes rolled, “No, they were both healthy and relatively easy…”

“Good,” the younger woman snapped the folder shut, “Then you should be aware that the chances of this pregnancy being about a million times more difficult is high, primarily due to your age…” the older woman snorted, “Now if there’s anything else you’d like to tell me, _especially_ about the father,” red eyes bored into the older woman’s black ones, “then I can start figuring out the best way to deal with this and what to expect…”

Reki had that scowling pout on her face as she narrowly glared at Xiao, but she knew better than to mess with a medical-nin, next to torture-experts like herself and the whackos at R&D, the med-nins were probably some of the **_scariest_** motherfuckers around. They were well trained, smart, and could be downright creative with their revenge; you did not piss them off. Therefore, sighing in utter defeat, the former commander of Company 1 growled under her breath…

“I can’t hear you _Taichou_ ,” Xiao’s own red eyes were narrowed as the woman glared more at her.

“You’re too fucking young to be calling me that brat,” the desk clerk felt _extremely_ ruffled as the young medic gave her a grin she was sure she used all the time on her superiors as a way of saying ‘I don’t fucking care!!’ so with a snort she reiterated what she’d said, “The kid’s father is Uzushio…”

The folder fell to the ground…

Red eyes blinked, then blinked again, and another time just to make sure. She’d heard that right; the older woman was giving that pouting scowl and nearly growling as she looked embarrassed as all hell, and for Reki that meant she was telling the truth. Xiao blinked again, “Wha…?”

“Close your mouth before you start catching flies brat…” another indignant grunt.

Another blink, “I’m sorry, I’m just trying to comprehend,” blink again as those wide red eyes just stared at Reki, “I just heard you say… the father of this child is… is…” absently a hand was pointing at the older woman, “That pink-haired old guy Yorihi calls ‘Jiji’… that you fucking **_HATE_** …” she blinked again, “Am I hearing this right?”

Reki visibly shook with the growl as she put her leg down and glared down at the little girl, narrow black eyes to the kid’s wide disbelieving red ones, “Yes, I slept with Uzu-teme that fucking bastard, do I have to spell it out to you? Pull out some diagrams and give explicit details about his-”

“Okay! Okay! Okay!” Xiao accented each word by waving her hands, hoping her face wasn’t the color of her hair, or worse, her eyes, “I get it, you slept with the guy!!”

The dragon snorted, and Xiao knew if the woman were smoking she’d likely be breathing fire along with it.

The young doctor slumped into her chair, eyes still somewhat wide, “Well, I’ll be damned; Yorihi was telling the truth…”

A black brow rose, obviously asking what the hell the girl was talking about.

The blush on Xiao’s face deepened but she knew there was no way out of the bloody captain’s sights now, “Err…” she gulped, “Like two weeks ago Yorihi showed up here, jittery and holding her face, at first I’d thought she’d broken her nose…” absently she scratched the side of her face nervously, “But then she pushed me in here and started telling me this long tale about how you were missing, then Kushi’s granddad was missing also and the both of them went off to go find you guys since you’re both punctual and well to be honest we thought one of you had finally snapped and decided to kill the other one…” red eyes innocently glanced to the side, the passive bored eyes on the older woman had become somewhat disturbing. Xiao swallowed hard, feeling sweat down the back of her neck, “S-so she continued, said they’d ‘found’ you at what was apparently Uzushio’s place only… err… well…” her voice got higher pitched and the red spread on her face as her eyes caught the sharpening look on Reki’s face. Immediately the young medic flushed and she was waving her hands in front of her defensively, “She got all quiet and defensive and started turning red until she finally just passed out… but I kinda got what she ‘meant’… sorta…”

Reki looked bored, “Oh yea, the two of them walked in on us while we were on Uzu-teme’s floor,” she ran a finger along her chin nonchalant, “It was kinda funny actually, both her and him just standing there staring dumbfounded while we were completely naked in front of the door,” there may have been a strangled squeak from the young doctor before Reki waved nonchalant, “then they ran out and stuck around the door,” she scratched her head as if thinking, “I think they were expecting us to be done pretty quick,” the perverted self-satisfied snicker did **_not_** help anyone listening.

Xiao turned even redder, having to cough into her hand just to find some semblance of reality, “O-okay… too much information…” she closed her eyes and coughed again, composing herself like the medical professional she was, “So I take it neither of you thought about using protection?”

“Well we did start off with all our under-armor on but that got thrown off by about round four and-” the cheeky way the older woman was grinning made it hard to tell if she was being honest, but obviously not at all serious.

A twitched formed on the dusky-pinkette’s brow, “Not. That. Kind. Of . **_Protection._** ” It was surprising how many times she’d heard that joke… it wasn’t funny anymore. Red eyes snapped open and glared at the older woman, “So neither of you _bothered_ to prevent this pregnancy?”

 _Finally_ Reki looked the slightest bit embarrassed as she scratched the side of her cheek, “Well, no… it was kinda sudden, I think I was drunk when it started?”

Red eyes blinked, “You _think_?”

Reki’s hand’s went up flippantly, “Well it lasted a few days alright, those Uzumaki’s got a fuckton of stamina!!”

Xiao’s eye was back to twitching.

Unfortunately the older woman just continued, “Not to mention he had like **_no_** recharge period, he got off and would be ready to go in a second!” the woman snapped her finger before a nostalgic smirk came over her face, “I tell ya, for a guy that’s like…” a tan hand rose as she did some quick math in her head, “Wow, he’s three times my age, ha!” her perverted grinning and snickering were not helping Xiao’s state of sanity at the moment, “But yea, for how old he is, pfft, sure as hell ain’t stopping him… lucky bastard…”

A dark hand met face as Xiao just groaned, “Ugghh… why… I didn’t need to know any of that…”

“Anyway,” Reki seemed to just roll on through completely ignoring the distraught medic, “It was all kinda a spur of the moment thing, maybe, maybe not aided by alcohol, least on my part, can’t get that guy drunk no matter what, and with how rough and kinky it was yea…” the woman just started laughing scratching the back of her head, “if there were condoms involved they were effectively useless… HAHAHA!!”

Xiao had her head in both hands wanting to rub the images out of her brain with bleach, “And despite being an active-duty konoichi you **_weren’t_** on any kind of birth-control!!”

Black eyes stared flatly at the younger girl, “Are you?”

Those red eyes peaked between the medic’s fingers… and conveniently looked _away_ …

The older woman snorted as she crossed her arms, “That’s what I thought…”

Xiao growled, dropping her hands, “Look, my personal life is none of your business but currently I’m not involved with anyone nor am I in a position to be out on missions making such… _activities_ … a possibility…”

Black eyes just stared flatly, “You’re a virgin aren’t you?”

Red eyes closed surprisingly calm, “I’m not going to dignify that with a response…”

A broad bright grin passed the desk clerk’s face, “Fair enough,” the smirk came down to a cocky grin as her narrow black eyes just looked the younger woman over, “But I’m in a similar situation,” she flippantly waved her hand, “I haven’t been in a relationship in _years_ , let alone wanting one, and c’mon, I’m **_ME!!_** ” tan hands went up and pointed at the older woman cockily, “If I want any, I get it myself, and fuck like I’m going to care about the consequences~”

“Obviously,” Xiao snorted.

Reki slumped, putting her hands on both sides of her as she looked down at the girl, “Look, I’ve lived this long and that’s a damn miracle in itself…” absently her left hand went to her stomach as something soft came over the brash woman’s face, “I think the only good I’ve ever done is bring my kids into this world, if I’m suppose to have another one… heh,” a light nostalgic smile came over her face, “and with that prick, hehe,” those happy black eyes looked straight into surprised red ones, “Then sure, why not? The gods got one fucked up sense of humor…”

For a moment red eyes just stared at the woman. As long as Xiao had known the older desk clerk she was brash, hostile, and basically evil to just about anyone, treating them like dirt for her own amusement or just screwing with peoples’ heads. Yorihi often told her about a woman that was battle-hardened, cold, detached and afraid of everything, who would gladly die for the sake of another. The woman sitting in front of Xiao now was something completely different. This woman had a softness to her snarky nature, a fear she hid behind her grin, but somehow earnest in her excitement. This woman accepted everything. – _This must be Reki-san as a mother…_ \- people changed, Xiao knew this first hand dealing with her Shisho, Yorihi, and anyone else the younger teen associated with. Obviously, for Reki, being a mother brought out the best in the crazy woman.

After a long second Xiao just sighed, “Well, at least I now have a better idea of what to expect,” she glanced down at the folder on the floor, debating about grabbing it, “Uzumaki pregnancies typically are a bit longer and the kids have a larger chakra drain on the mothers, which would be fine for Uzumaki women but…” her voice trailed off as the young medic went over some of the pregnancies of Uzumaki descendants in her head, quickly calculating what kind of problems there could be…

A light laugh brought the young medic out of her thoughts, “Oh, this kid’ll be fine,” that cocky Gakushin grin spread on Reki’s face, “Mei and Jun were a bit late and were a major drain on me, not that I didn’t expect anything different, I got a helluva lotta chakra myself… my mother used to complain that I screwed up her chakra system before I was born, haHA!!”

A dusky-pink brow rose, “Hmm, really?” that cocky grin was all the response she needed, “Well I’d still feel more comfortable with frequent check-ins, this is a late pregnancy, so despite how ‘well’ your previous ones were there could still be problems just from that…”

“Yea, yea…” Reki hopped off the table, left hand resting on her belt, “So I just check in with you again in a month or something?”

Xiao’s eyes had the seriousness of a medical professional as she watched her patient, “I’d prefer every two weeks, but it’s the later term that has me more worried, so we’ll discuss more when we get there…” the older woman just grinned, not agreeing or disagreeing just ready to run. Red eyes narrowed as the older woman seemed to head towards the door, “So… are you going to tell him?”

At the question the black haired woman went still a foot from the door. Her shoulders slumped and for the longest time the older woman was perfectly still, staring at nothing in front of her, “The first time I was pregnant, with Jun, I was so scared… shocked that me, of anyone was pregnant, and more so worried about what his father would say… or ask me to do…” the woman raised her head, turning back to look at the young doctor with softer eyes then Xiao had ever seen on the desk clerk, a light smirk picking at her lips, “I found out about Mei when I was alone, and that scared me in a whole different way, heh,” she ran a hand through her bangs as an honest grin spread across the woman’s face, “Now though… I got a great family, people I can trust who’ll never hurt me or ask me to hurt myself,” her hand lowered and her eyes were just soft on the little red eyed girl, obviously including her in that list, “So to be honest, I’m not scared to tell him… cause it doesn’t really matter, I’ve already decided this kid’s mine, whether he wants it or not…”

A small smirk picked at the dark skinned young woman’s lips, “Ya know, Reki-san, not everything’s about claiming what’s ‘yours’,” Xiao gave a light shrug, thinking about as certain silly man, “Sometimes it’s about sharing the responsibility, building something together…”

“Heh, how old are you?” the older woman grinned, “You sound older than me with advice like that?”

Xiao just huffed, raising one hand and shooing her out, “Get out, I have other patients to see, and you have someone to congratulate on knocking you up…”

Those black eyes stared flatly, “Nice way to put it kid,” at the continued shooing motion Reki just laughed, opening the door and letting herself out.


	9. The reason Uzushiogakure burned...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything was nice and peaceful in Uzushiogakure no Sato... until a certain Black clad ANBU and her company from Kumo came along...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon? - part of two Rashomon Effect chaps - Reki's side of the story - Takes place about 20 years ago, Reki's 20, Kemui's 12, Uzushio is just hitting over a hundred and this is back when he was Uzumaki Shishio...

The reason Uzushiogakure burned…

During the ‘peaceful’ time between the second and third World War there was a prolonged conflict between Kumo and Konoha over a neighboring village called Uzushiogakure. The Village Hidden in the Whirlpools was an island nation that had easy access to both the land of fire and land of lightning so both Kumo and Konoha often laid claim to the village and its resources, especially during wartime, and more particularly when the two villages weren’t bluntly at war with one another. In fact Uzushiogakure was a particularly neutral village in most conflicts, acting only as mercenaries if the price was right. Konoha liked to play the ‘we have Senjuu and Uchiha card, so you Uzumaki cousins should help us’ garnering _cheaper_ prices while the Uzumaki begrudgingly _helped_ their mainland cousins. Kumo typically just paid them an exorbitant amount and let the Uzumaki dabble in one of their lesser ‘known’ traits of just wanton indiscriminant destruction. Hey, sometimes those seal masters just needed to let loose and blow shit up, and Kumo was always good for that and their coin… the uncouth brutes…

Now, in ages to come Uzushiogakure would fade into the background of history and utterly forgotten like most ‘minor’ villages despite the Uzumaki, their primary clan, being the ones that essentially invented seals, but details…

It is a wide known event that Uzushiogakure was eventually burned to the ground, most countries believing it to be by Kumo because of some shady deal, to acquire the Uzumaki secrets, or whatever other nonsense…

The truth of the matter is far, far, **_far_** more stupid…

At the age of 20, Gakushin Reki was the Company Commander of Kumo’s mysterious Company 1, from what spies and other information networks could gather this company was basically Kumo’s ANBU Assault squad. They went in, killed everyone and everything, quickly and quietly, and basically softened up any armies so the primary force assault companies, A and B, could mop up easy-peasy. What most other villages didn’t know, or probably couldn’t understand, was that the current Company Commander for Company 1, Gakushin Reki, was actually a jounin assigned to Company 0… she had just so happened to be assigned to 1 while they were in ‘peaceful reconnaissance’ and their former Commander was killed… some sketchy stuff happened, involving a black death mask, some wire, and several creative suggestions from the nut job that resulted in her taking over the obviously suicidal position. No one else in the company seemed to bother complaining, at least the young nut job didn’t have them running right into the fray and getting killed…

What does the Commander of Kumo’s Company 1 and Uzushiogakure have to do with one another?

Simple, after finishing some of those ‘peaceful reconnaissance’ missions in the general area of Whirlpool, the Company Commander decided to have a bit of a break for her company, a rare thing indeed for hardened ANBU. So a bathhouse in Uzu was quickly appropriated and paid off so the Kumo ANBU could take off their weeks-old-gore-covered-and-filthy outfits, beat up masks, and just strip down to relax in some of Uzu’s prized hot springs.

The Company Commander herself had ordered and exorbitant amount of sake for her Company and the place to themselves, all the staff _politely_ suggested to leave, _quickly_. Most of the staff saw no reason to deny the crazy visiting Kumo-nin, they got their money; plenty enough to pay for any possible damages, and the nut jobs didn’t seem bothered at all about serving themselves. Oddly, according to several staff leaving, there were a few members of the Company that seemed separate, wearing all white unmarked clothing as opposed to the blacks of the obvious ANBU, and were apparently seen ‘serving’ the other members. Many of the staff didn’t even bat an eye at that, it was many countries’ opinion that Kumo went around raiding and capturing slaves, as their precursors did, so it wouldn’t be _that_ strange for a Company, even an ANBU Company, to have some random slaves to serve the jerkbags…

Whatever the details, the ANBU and their odd slave-like members were left to their own devices while the normal staff of this particular bath house left expecting to find a totaled bath in the morning…

Since this was an unprecedented set up none of the ‘regulars’ of this particular bath knew about the sudden setup. Sure, many had the common sense to realize when the normal staff weren’t there that something was up and went to the next one over, but a few were brave, or stupid, enough to investigate. Several of the Uzu-nin that went this route wound up on their asses outside the establishment, courtesy of the strangely white-clothed individuals attached to the Kumo Company.

When it was a young girl’s turn to watch the door, some of the Uzu-nin wound up getting more than being tossed out on their asses… a few needing to go to the hospital with unusual cuts.

This caught the attention of the Lord of the Uzumaki clan, and closest thing to a leader Uzushiogakure had; Uzumaki Shishio. The over a hundred year old Uzumaki simply left from his desk of trivial paperwork; more bitching from Konoha about some inane ‘we’re family do what we say’ bs along with a new ‘request’ from the current Raikage and maybe a few others from other countries, and decided to check out what was going on at this bath house.

Uzumaki Shishio was an intimidating man, with narrow purple eyes, that naturally slightly tanned skin of the Uzumaki baring a few wrinkles from his great age, and that familiar Uzumaki red hair, now with small flecks of grey turning it _slightly_ less red. No one would admit it, at least not to his face, but if his hair went any more ‘grey’ it would start to look pink. The man’s tall and stern stature made such comments nonexistent in his presence.

So for such a normally intimidating man to be stopped at the door to a bath house by what looked to be a twelve year old possible girl; small, pale, nearly sickly looking with cropped white hair, it was rather hilarious.

“You will move, girl,” the man’s narrow purple eyes bore into the small white wearing girl. Such a look _normally_ sent many of his jounin to their knees.

The girl didn’t flinch; in fact she barely seemed to move at all, her sharp grey eyes just looking up at him as she seemed to vacantly stare at anyone that approached the building, “No.”

Shishio frowned, rubbing his short mustache as he tried to figure this girl out, “And why not?”

The girl’s head tilted slightly, “The Commander has bought this place for the evening, for the safety and security of the Company, no one else is to enter…”

A red brow rose, well that was more than he knew a moment ago. The tall man folded his arms into his long sleeves and stared at the girl for a good long second, “I am the leader of this Village, do you understand that?”

The girl nodded.

His eyes narrowed, “Then do you understand that that means I have a higher rank then your _Commander_ , and she has commandeered this building without consulting me?” it was a long shot, but the girl didn’t seem to be wearing a hitae-ate nor have any kind of weapon, so the older gentleman was hard pressed to figure she was truly a konoichi under this ‘Commander’ she had mentioned. He hoped the girl had some concept of social structure, or at least believed him about the rank thing, and would allow him to meet this ‘Commander’ of hers.

After a long minute of the girl just disturbingly staring at him she moved to the side, allowing him access to pass.

A red brow rose further, but Shishio wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth and took a step forward, noticing as the girl nodded to someone in the corner before following him as they made their way to the private baths. The older shinobi glanced over his shoulder and noticed a shaggy pale blonde step out of the shadows, wearing all white like the girl, and take up a position at the door. Whoever these ‘others’ were that the Company were employing, they were just as militant as any other shinobi he knew.

It didn’t take long before they were passing the baths, and while Shishio thought that would be their destination, he was surprised when the girl, whom he realized had a long thin braid, just kept walking passed him as he stopped. She headed for one of the stairs leading to the upper floors of the bath house, to the spare rooms. Again a red brow rose, but the tall man merely shrugged and followed the girl still. Without bothering to stretch his senses he could distinctly hear a number of voices in the baths, male and female, likely the other members of the Company.

The two traveled up three flights of steps to the fourth floor and to what Shishio knew to be the largest and most extravagant room. The man could only shake his head as the girl kneeled to open the door. – _Of course the jerk would take the most extravagant room…_ -

With the door open the young girl remained in a bow, not speaking or moving, simply waiting for him to pass so she may close it and likely stand guard.

The older shinobi had to give the young girl props, she couldn’t be more than twelve yet had a better grasp of etiquette and her place than most genin he knew. With the slightest of nods Shishio stepped into the room, unsurprised as the door closed behind him with barely a sound.

Now inside the room, the leader of the Uzumaki took the time to glance around. There was a long table set out with what appeared to be the remains of a feast, likely finished off by the crowd downstairs in the baths, one door off to the side left ajar showing a ruffled futon, likely used for some proclivities, another room closed off but looking untouched and finally a door opened to an open balcony. Seeing as no one appeared in either room or the main one Shishio stepped towards the balcony.

At first he saw no one as he glanced around, but then heard the distinct sound of a fan being flicked opened and glanced to the ground. There, in a slightly open and provocative yukata, was a woman with tan skin, long black hair and black eyes, grinning with her thin eyes over a metal ribbed black fan depicting a kind of white flower he didn’t recognize.

Narrow purple eyes just stared at the young woman, his first thoughts that she was a whore the Commander had ‘appropriated’ and likely already used. He tried to not appear miffed or offended as he turned to the woman and tried to keep his voice even, “Pardon… miss,” she seemed to laugh in her throat as she moved to stand up, the front of the yukata obviously open and it was quite short. Shishio gulped, glancing back at her face, “But I am seeking the ‘Commander’ of the Company that has taken residence here for the night…?”

The fan was flicked shut and the woman had a strangely familiar smirk on her face as her thin eyes became sharp and narrow as she moved to lean provocatively on the railing, smirk never leaving her lips as she shamelessly glanced the older man up and down.

Shishio felt uncomfortable under the woman’s gaze, something about her black eyes setting off an uncomfortable vibe in the old man’s mind, as she rattled the bottom of her fan against the railing. It was at this moment he realized that attached to the ring on the bottom of the fan was a chain, a long one, a strange instrument for a common whore to have?

The woman let out a rough laugh, it was gruff and foreign sounding and Shishio’s mind started to put the pieces together, “Well you found her,” the woman smacked the fan to her open hand, that oddly familiar smirk morphing into something wholly cocky and foreign, “Gakushin Reki, Commander of Kumo’s Company 1 at your service!”

Purple eyes widened and Shishio’s lips pursed together as he didn’t want to say the first thing on his mind. The _girl_ couldn’t be more than 20!! How in the world was she already such a high ranking Commander for Kumo, of all places, and had she no shame!! He could practically see her nipples!! Not that he was looking… of course not!!

Reki laughed, leaning back more loosely on the railing, intentionally or unintentionally opening her front a bit more as she rested on her elbows, “You’re looking a bit red there, Uzumaki~”

Shishio pouted, glaring at the woman, “Put some clothes on,” he ruffled, purposely turning away, “No woman in such a position should act so… open!”

“Hehe,” the woman chuckled, again that rough sound that marked her as foreign, “What, don’t like what you see Uzumaki?” the man chanced a glance over his shoulder at the woman and she had one black brow furrowed challengingly with that unfamiliar cocky grin, which seemed to spread as the woman’s thin black eyes caught on something on his face, “No, that can’t be it, cause you’re looking a little red under the collar…” to accent her words she tugged at her own loose collar.

The distinctly _red_ haired older gentlemen merely straightened and coughed into his hand, he had seen _none_ of that… _none **at ALL!!**_ He would deny to kami itself were it to ask… he saw _nothing!!_

Apparently the old man’s attempts at piousness were completely transparent, as that foreign woman just gave another of those loud rough laughs, pushing herself off the railing and smacking the stiff man on the shoulder as she somehow managed to saunter and gruffly ‘walk’ towards the low table, bending enough to grab a jug of sake, uncouthly yank the cork off with her teeth and drink possibly half of it. Wizen purple eyes were twitching by the time she finally removed the thing, spilling some down her… er, ‘front’ before giving a satisfied, “Ahh!!” possibly accented by a completely unladylike belch…

Shishio was rightfully mortified. Never in his life had he ever met a… ‘woman’ so… so… **_UNFEMININE!!_**

Sadly Reki was a bit dense, or drunk, either worked really, (both?) as she held out the sake bottle, that wicked cocky grin of hers wide and completely oblivious to her unladylike tendencies, “So you want any red,” something wicked and fanged entered that cocky grin, “Or you just  going to stare at my chest all night?”

More red spread across the mighty Uzumaki Lord’s face, though from either embarrassment or rage was anyone’s guess… likely both, as his purple eyes just twitched trying to comprehend the monstrosity in front of him… also realizing the woman likely wasn’t wearing anything under that evilly open yukata… not that he was _looking!!_

He quickly shook his head, mentally slapping himself as he hadn’t done or thought so perversely since he was under 50, honestly!! He was far too old to be acting like a kid. To save face he merely coughed into hand and avoided looking at the woman, “No, I am not here to… imbibe…”

A black brow rose on the woman’s face in such a way he was actually wondering if she had no idea what ‘imbibe’ meant… which wouldn’t make any sense since nearly every Kumo-nin he’d ever met seemed to have swallowed a dictionary as a child, there was no way this young girl could have made it to being a Company Commander and not done the same!!

Finally she just shrugged, skillfully wrapping the loose rope handle and bringing the thing back to her lips, “Eh, more for me,” and likely finished it off as the next thing Shishio knew the bottle went flying over the balcony.

A red brow quirked as his gaze returned from the missing bottle to the woman taking a rather… ill-mannered seat at one end of the table and literally mauling some manner of meat in front of her. He couldn’t calling it ‘eating’, humans _ate_ things, this woman was viciously mauling what remained of some meat and he wasn’t sure any of it was going in her stomach. She must have noticed him staring as she momentarily paused in her mauling of meats to quirk a black brow at him and say something with her mouth full that may have been, again, “want some?” and held out a bone in his direction.

That purple eye was twitching again as the man sat down, partly because he’d had it beaten into his head from his mother to sit when someone offered you food, and partly because like a training accident he just could not look away from the horror in front of him. His mother would have thrown a fit if this woman ever came to their home for dinner.

The black brow remained up for a good long second as the two just seemed to stare at one another, before Reki just shrugged, gnawing what meat she could get off the bone before tossing it over her shoulder. The Uzumaki dude was weird, just kept staring, she knew she was hot but this was a bit ridiculous.

“What the hell are you doing?” it seemed the old man finally found his voice.

The mauling stopped as wide black eyes just stared at the guy, glanced at her food, back at him, swallowed and cleared her throat before answering quite succinctly, “Eating?”

Those purple eyes narrowed, “If that’s what you call that,” he immediately quipped under his breath. When the Uzu leader realized what he’d just said he was mortified, the woman, as dumb as she appeared, may not recognize him but pissing off Kumo was never a good idea.

Luckily she just seemed to snort before busting out laughing, loudly banging her fist on the table.

Shishio could only blink.

“Oh man,” the woman leaned back, holding her stomach as she tried to bring her laughing down, “I was wondering how long it’d take to get to you!”

Red brow rose as the man stared at her skeptically, “Until _what_ got to me?”

The woman managed to get her boisterous laughter down to a snicker as she pushed the plates away from her, “The bad manners and shit,” a tan hand seemed to reach behind the opposite side of the table before she pulled back a white stick and cheap looking lighter. She grinned viciously as she placed the cigarette in her mouth, keeping sharp eyes on the man, “What, you thought that’s how I normally eat?”

“To be honest,” Shishio stated flatly as he folded his hands into his sleeves, watching as she lit the small cigarette, “I thought you were drunk…”

The black haired woman snickered, setting the cheap lighter down on the table between them, leaning enough on it to provide _ample_ support for her barely contained cleavage as she smirked to the older man, waving her free hand around, “Maybe just a little~”

The older man snorted, finding the scent of cigarette smoke offensive. The woman boldly drank, no, _chugged_ alcohol like a man, had no concept of tact, discretion, or personal self-image, horrendous table manners, terrible sense of humor… and worst of all smoked. Shishio could only stare… his mother would hate this woman.

A black brow rose as the woman removed the cigarette and just lightly breathed smoke. It rose higher as the man seemed to twitch more. He was kinda funny…

The man snorted, glaring mildly at the young _girl_ , and ruing the day she moved on to thicker, deadlier cigarettes. He hoped he didn’t know her by then… or she was dead, as their line of work was much more likely to provide, “I’m curious how much of the drunk whore act is true or fake…” screw being ‘nice’ to the Kumo Commander, she obviously wasn’t being so towards him!

Unexpectedly the woman’s black brow rose and she wasn’t laughing, “I think Company S would find some offense in that,” she replaced the cigarette and breathed what may have been a sigh, “They make sure standards are kept after all…”

Shishio just stared at her oddly, not sure what to make of the comment. She wasn’t offended, in fact seemed to react like she wasn’t ‘worth’ being called a whore… Kumo-nin were weird!! “I’m…” red brow rose skeptically, “sorry?”

That cocky grin was back, “Ehehe, forget about it,” she waved her hand, “ ‘Sides I know I’m not the most _dainty_ woman around,” the hand with the cigarette reached out, nudging a ceramic plate over with some food remains, and snubbed out the death stick, “I knew a guy that would give you a run for your money,” that grin widened as she leaned towards the man across from her, “probably clean you out too~”

Purple eyes narrowed, “You are drunk…”

“Not enough,” the woman sat up on her knees and reached across the table, grabbing another sake bottle.

Shishio _tried_ , kami strike him down, the man **_tried_** to ignore the young woman’s chest as she leaned over the table in front of him… for not wearing any support, they were _quite_ firm and well in place.

In a deceptively graceful movement the woman sat back down and drained half the bottle before setting it back down on the table with a satisfied gasp the moment her bottom hit the floor. The woman was obliviously grinning as her face got a bit redder… much like her company, “Sure you don’t want Uzumaki~”

The man just stared at her, trying to ignore the possible double meaning in her words and presentation.

The evil young woman just kept grinning, leaning to one side, obviously enjoying making him so flustered.

Purple eyes narrowed, “You are an evil woman…”

She winked, “How else do you think I got this job…”

Shishio had to close his eyes, take a deep breath and calm his thoughts. Either this woman was naturally aggravating or an excellent mental expert, either way she was not someone to underestimate like he had previously. Calming his thoughts, narrow purple eyes stared squarely at the deceptive woman, “Commander, please explain your presence here.”

A black brow rose, part of her demeanor becoming serious but it was hard to tell with the obvious effect the booze was having on her, “Some R-‘n-R,” a nonchalant shrug as she took another swig from the sake bottle, “You guys got black op.s right?” the woman may have drunkenly leaned towards the older gentleman but there was something about her thin eyes, something dangerous and well-aware, “We just got done with a month long siege, don’t ask where, and I figured my kids deserve a break,” then she leaned back again, sighing deeply and drinking again, “Lord knows I fucking need it,” the woman finally set the sake bottle down, long enough to roll her shoulder, messaging out an apparent kink before quirking a single eye at the Uzumaki, “Don’t worry, we paid well enough for any damages…” those black eyes paused flat, “I think…”

Shishio growled, shaking his head. Kami knew what these black op.s types were doing, for all he knew they just wiped out a village or something. – _Trust Kumo to go about pillaging…_ \- and he still had that BS from the Raikage to deal with, seriously the guy wanting an agreement for-

… wait.

Narrow purple eyes turned on the woman, who was drinking again from what looked to be a different bottle, “So you have _nothing_ to do in this Village aside from staying at this bathhouse?”

A black brow rose though it was debatable if Reki was really listening to him, “Not that I know of,” the woman hiccupped as her gaze seemed to be cloudy as she stared oddly at Shishio, “You know sumin’ I don’t?” then she started snickering as if something about the statement was infinitely hilarious.

Shishio didn’t get it… and why was the woman staring at him! Out of purely nervous habit the older gentleman rubbed his small mustache, just to distract himself. He noticed the young woman seemed to lick her lips when he did that, curious, a red brow rose higher, “No, there’s nothing I know that you do not, one would assume,” she was smirking again, why did that make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, “What?”

The woman grinned, wide enough to close her eyes, “Noooooothing~ hehe…”

Purple eyes narrowed as the man crossed his arms, “You keep staring, obviously there’s something…”

It was strange watching as her wide grinning teeth got closer, the woman leaning over the table, almost in his lap and close enough he could smell the cigarette from earlier on her breath along with sake, “Wanna fuck?”

It took a good long second for Shishio’s brain to reset after the question. – _She just asked that?_ \- his left eye twitched as all he could do was stare as she leaned in a bit closer, cleavage quite open and obvious, almost close enough to slip off the table and… Shishio shook his head, leaning back as the woman started laughing.

“What’s the matter red?” Now Reki was deviously leaning on one arm on the table, intent quite obvious in her eyes and actions, “You’ve been staring all night, and fuck if you’re not a good looking guy yourself,” her free hand reached out to run under his chin but missed, both from her own drunkenness causing a lack of depth perception and the older man leaning back, not that it seemed to register to the Kumo Commander, “I hear you Uzumaki have crazy stamina, even the really old ones~”

Shishio stared flatly, lightly swatting her drunk hand away, “Not interested.”

The woman pouted, anger quickly setting behind her drunk eyes, “And why the hell not?”

The Uzumaki leader pushed back, getting to his feet, feeling the sooner he left the quicker she’d forget and so would he… and he didn’t know how long he could resist something so… welcomed, “You’re drunk, it would be wrong…” yes, he was a good guy, he didn’t take advantage of women!!

The woman’s frown got larger, as she turned to sit on the table, narrow black eyes watching as he moved to the door, “Bullshit like I’m that drunk,” when he got near enough to grab the door the woman threw out the chain from her fan, wrapping it around his leg and tripping him, effortlessly dragging the Uzumaki lord to her feet.

Shishio growled, annoyed at the position and drunk he had to deal with. In a graceful motion the man hopped off the floor, spun in the opposite way the chain was wound removing it from himself and flipped to stand, conveniently scant inches from the woman sitting on the table at a decidedly poor level. Purple eyes narrowed as the red head looked down with his hands on his hips at the woman whose head was relatively waist level for him. Sadly he did not get the first word in this encounter.

A black brow rose with a devious smirk as the woman leaned back just enough to look the man in the eyes and show off her nice rack, “Oh that’s how you want to play, huh?” that cocky grin was back with a vengeance as the woman reached out to grab his sash belt.

Swiftly the man grabbed the woman’s hand before it made it anywhere near its destination, “I said it once, not interested.”

Black eyes narrowed as the woman wrenched her hand from his, leaning back and looking away with an angry, frustrated pout.

Shishio just sighed at the look, crossing his arms into his sleeves and wanting to in some way diffuse the situation, “Don’t take this as a slight, it is simply not my way,” the woman made some disgruntled sound but remained looking away from him. The red head growled deep in his chest, annoyed and frustrated himself as he crossed his arms tighter, closing his eyes, “now if you do not mind, _Commander_ , but I have other affairs to deal with,” an even deeper sigh as the woman just seemed to continue to pout, “And please, don’t do anything rash that would cause extensive damage to this establishment…”

“Tch,” a tan hand reached out grabbing and uncorking another bottle, “Whatever Red,” she made a shooing motion, obviously over the man’s rejection.

Shishio just nodded, turning on his heel and left the room, hoping the Kumo Commander would simply drink herself into a stupor and leave in the morning.  

Oh how wrong he was…

For not even twelve hours later Shishio and what remained of the Uzumaki were standing on a hill overlooking the complete and utter annihilation of their village at the hands of **_ONE_** individual while her ANBU squad had them all tied up for the show. The elder leader of what was formally Uzushiogakure’s left eye twitched at every unbridled scream of fury he heard while watching his village be blow to pieces by a woman with fans and breathing literal fire. Buildings were blown away with a wave of Reki’s fans as others burned from her fire breath and gods forbid where the woman was pulling all the rampant explosions out of…

After about two hours of silently being forced to watch the destruction of one of the strongest villages in the world at the hands of one psycho with fans someone tapped Shishio on the shoulder. The obviously-in-shock man turned to face whoever it was that was interrupting his horror, with twitching eyes, and spotted the young girl in white from the Kumo division. She had a very placid look on her face as she stared down at the man with still grey eyes before stating quite bluntly:

“The Commander told me to tell you, ‘This is what happens when you turn down the Commander of Company 1’…”

Shishio just blinked, his eye twitching as he turned back and continued watching the woman wreak havoc on his town. All that was running through the Uzumaki’s mind were thoughts of vengeance and how much he hated the insolent child blowing his home to bits. But there was one part of his mind, one that was strangely calm and cynical about the whole situation that he was avidly trying to ignore, stating quite plainly:

 – _Why didn’t I just get laid!!_ -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for those that don't know...
> 
> The Rashomon Effect is a trope referring to something that happened but all the eyewitnesses' interpret the information differently, each witness basically tells a different story, named after the movie Rashomon :3


	10. Why Uzushiogakure REALLY Burned...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uzumaki Shishio was a simple man, he simply wanted to get his daughter back... not burn his village to the ground...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon? - part of two Rashomon Effect chaps - Uzushio's side of the story - Takes place about 20 years ago, Reki's 20, Kemui's 12, Uzushio is just hitting over a hundred and this is back when he was Uzumaki Shishio...

Why Uzushiogakure REALLY Burned…

In the history of the Shinobi world there are many incidents that occur with little to no reason often with disastrous or cataclysmic results; few actually end up being relatively good. Many of these events are shrouded in mystery likely because any information of the incident has been lost, manipulated, or simply forgotten. Worst is when records of these events are all inconclusive and all accounts are conflicting because then that means someone is lying and as history is written by the victories the truth is buried to never be found again, only the lies remaining… even if those involved live long enough and remember those moments clearly.

The destruction of Uzushiogakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools is one of these events.

All countries and villages will agree that Kumogakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Clouds is responsible for razing this minor village to the ground, burning the city and sinking the land below the waves it hid behind. This part is true, Kumo **_did_** burn Uzu to the ground and not a single Kumo-nin will deny it. What no one knows is who did it or why…

… and to answer those questions there are only a few people to ask, and even then, they may not be telling the truth.

\-----

Uzumaki Shishio didn’t know it yet, but he would be the last leader Uzushiogakure ever had.

His grandfather had built the village nearly 200 years ago, his mother had grown up here before she left after his own father’s demise, along with every other Uzumaki known to the world. Whirlpool was their home, their land, the place all children of the spiral traced their origins. They were the masters of Fuuinjutsu, Seal Arts, its inventors and keepers of their secrets as well as an inspiration for all the other villages that existed today. While Uzu remained relatively small and classified as a ‘minor’ village, it held its own and the power of the seals is main family possessed. For generations, by other Shinobi standards, they had been the prize all major and minor villages sought because their power was something so foreign and unknown.

For generations, the Uzumaki had held onto their small patch of land by their arts, dealing with the other villages only when needed.

Now though, now was a different time…

Today was the last day Uzushiogakure would exist.

… and Uzumaki Shishio would be there to watch it all burn.

\-----

Thin purple eyes opened as the Konoha representative slammed his fist on the low table seated between them. There were only three occupants in the room, Shishio as the Uzu representative, an ANBU from Konoha in a plain mask and an ANBU from Kumo wearing a black intricately carved black mask designed like an Oni’s face across from the Konoha representative. Shishio sat at the head of the small low table _trying_ to keep the peace, not that it was working, Kumo and Konoha had fought since their foundings, even long before when they had been warring clans and bandits.

From what Shishio knew; Kumo was a Village constantly looked down upon as they came up out of nowhere from the mountains of the Land of Lightning. He’d yet to meet a Kumo-nin from some ‘prestigious’ or well-known clan, and from the hearsay of the other villages the location of their Village was the suspected home of a roaming band of bandits that had pillaged and rampaged all across the elemental nations. They were ruthless, lawless, inscrutable barbarians that now sought to be called ‘Shinobi’… it was no wonder many of the other ‘Villages’ despised them.

On the other side was ‘Konoha’, claimed as the ‘First’ true Shinobi Village, even if the rumors of Kumo’s origins would actually make the ‘bandit village’ predate any of the other so-called ‘hidden villages’. But Konoha was prideful and powerful, claiming the names of many notorious clans, even gaining a truce somehow between the blood-feuding Uchiha and Senjuu. The day the Hyuuga left the Land of Lightning and joined Konoha was the day the seemingly never-ending war between the two villages started, as any excuse between the bandits and ‘prestigious’ Shinobi was reason enough to set the countryside on fire and shed each other’s blood.

The Uzumaki had the built their own village long ago in secret, his mother in fact was the one to help that moron Senjuu build their Village Hidden in the Leaves and it was unknown to what extent she had revealed Uzumaki secrets. He doubted his mother revealed anything, the Senjuu she’d fallen in love with was an idiot, Shishio had met him once and that was all he’d needed to know the man that had been his own age at the time… it was a very disturbing time in his life and may have colored his views of Konoha to this day. His mother had remained in that damn village, even to her death barely a month ago and that was _part_ of the whole reason they were having this meeting to begin with.

In his life Uzumaki Shishio had been blessed with three wives, each giving him several children though sadly dying not long after the last. Ten years ago his last wife died birthing a beautiful girl that looked like him. With that strong Uzumaki red hair and violet eyes she had been a handful and a troublemaker and the absolute light of his life. She had been his baby, all his other children grown adults with their own families and she was the last he had to take care of…

He had _allowed_ his precious daughter to travel to Konoha to see his dying mother, as he could not since he was running the village. He had _allowed_ his mother to get her damn way of upholding that moron Senjuu’s wishes to keep the Kyuubi locked away until it ‘saw the light’ or whatever the hell that was and _specifically_ letting his _youngest_ and most beloved daughter to go and retrieve the stupid bijuu before his mother perished. What he had **_not_** _allowed_ was for Konoha to now claim the girl as their property, for ‘her safety’. The power hungry morons had no damn idea how to deal with the bijuu, the Uzumaki did, _his **mother**_ had been the one to show that moron Senjuu how to seal the damn thing because **_someone_** had to as she was the **_only ONE_** that could hold the damn thing!! He had let his daughter see her grandmother, let her receive a burden for his damn mother because he was a good son, but he drew the damn line there!! He wanted his daughter back, and Konoha was not cooperating…

That’s where Kumo came in…

Uncouth bandits or not, the barbarians were excellent muscle and **_HATED_** Konoha with a passion… the Raikage had laughed at his request saying they’d take the opportunity to make the ‘pussy tree-huggers’ look like morons for free. He had only wanted the Kumo presence there as a threat, a reminder that Uzu, while minor, was still highly valued, and if Konoha was going to slight him he’d plunge this world into another bloody war, one where the seals of Uzu backed the ruthless horde of Kumo.

His mere _talking_ to Kumo had been enough to ruffle Konoha, they impromptly sending an emissary, and ANBU operative no less, to ‘negotiate’. Shishio had been fortunate as an ANBU force of Kumo’s had been in the area, sent by the Raikage to give Shishio his response to a form of treaty between the two villages that would likely satisfy them both. He’d yet to see the treaty as the Konoha ANBU had ambushed him, then the Kumo one, and the only way to prevent a war, for now, was to sit the two of them down in the back room of his office.

The past six hours had consisted of the two ANBU quietly staring at each other behind their masks… it had been a _very **quiet**_ six hours.

That had been until the Konoha ANBU had slammed his fist on the table.

“Remove your mask, Kumo,” a black glove pointed accusingly at the black Oni mask, “Or these talks are over…”

Purple eyes couldn’t help but roll. – _Talks… right…_ \- Shishio kept the snort in his mouth, knowing this was just going to bring about another argument as ANBU, especially high ranking black ops never revealed their faces.

For a solid five minutes the Kumo ANBU didn’t move; arms crossed, back straight, and mask facing the Konoha’s plain one. Then as if some act of Kami they shrugged, the slight motion amplified by just how _still_ they had been before an equally black gloved hand rose, clutching the eyeholes of the Oni mask and expertly removing it.

Despite himself Shishio had to take a deep breath. The removal of one’s mask was a death sentence for ANBU and this Kumo-nin seemed to be inviting it. His breath hitched when with the mask the person removed some band that had been holding their hair, revealing long straight black locks and a woman’s tan face.

With her free hand she ran her fingers through her hair, obviously taking some small pleasure in having removed the band before cracking her neck and opening thin black eyes to stare at the Konoha ANBU.

For the moment Shishio was mesmerized and not sure why.

Then she opened her mouth and he forgot all about it…

“Happy, fucker?” she flippantly tossed the black mask on the table, flat black eyes never leaving the small dots for eye holes the Konoha ANBU had, “Now if you wouldn’t mind…?”

The Konoha ANBU was still but even the untrained eye could see something jarred about their stiff sitting position, “No,” it was said in a low flat voice, “A true ANBU never reveals their face, Gakushin Reki.”

The woman made a motion to twirl her finger by her ear, “Woo, you know who I am…”

“You are the current Commander of Kumo’s Company 1, their black ops assault squad, even if you are truly a member of Company 0, their Torture and Interrogation squad.” The assumed man’s voice was low and flat, stating facts with no emotion, it was almost commendable.

The woman lowered her hand, flat black eyes still not leaving the ANBU, “Is that supposed to intimidate me?” a thin black brow rose slighting on her tan face, “Because it’s not, you see this?” one hand raised to pick at the opening of the long black trench coat she wore over her standard issue black ops gear, “This is only worn by T&I captains so it’s easy to figure I was one, as for my name?” she held out both hands palms up in a shrugging nonchalant motion, “Pfft, who doesn’t know I’m the Company 1 Commander by now?” a wicked smirk passed her features as she glanced at the man across from her, “You tend to get famous when your Legendary Sannin get run out of our territory by little ol’ me and my kids…”

The ANBU didn’t move much but it was safe to assume he was ruffled.

Meanwhile purple eyes stared. The woman was young, likely in her early twenties by other Shinobi standards, and she’d faced the Konoha Legendary Sannin and lived? Despite the desire to remain neutral and have nothing to do with Konoha, Shishio had kept some tabs on those related to his mother; Senjuu Tsunade had been interesting as his mother’s granddaughter with her miraculous medial Ninjutsu and being a part of a Legendary team to practically win a war with Kiri on their own. It had been nearly a decade since the team under the third Hokage had gained their infamy and they’d seemed unstoppable since. So to hear this…

“There is no proof of such an occurrence,” was the Konoha ANBU’s automatic response.

Something wicked passed the woman’s face as her smirk became vicious, “Oh just ask them, I’m _suuuuure_ little Jiraiya will _love_ to go on about how he got thrashed by a woman with fans in all black back in the southern mountains where they’d been _trying_ to sneak in despite it being _peace time_ between our two villages,” she finally looked away from the man, removing one of her gloves and looking at her nails while she talked, her body language screaming she deemed him of little to no importance.

But the threat in her words struck a chord with Shishio.

Purple eyes burned as the man’s graying red brows furrowed and turned to the Konoha ANBU, “What is your village doing trying to instigate another war with Kumo!!” in ever skirmish between the two villages Uzu got pulled in, and it was _always_ Uzu that had to bleed the most to broker a truce between them.

“There is no such thing,” was that automatic response, “As such an event never happened; this Kumo-nin is merely lying to try to gain your favor…”

A frown spread under the thin red mustache as Shishio had to bite his tongue from commenting.

That certainly didn’t stop the Kumo woman, “Yea, cause you guys are _sooooooo_ trustworthy,” she had the other glove off, rubbing her fingers and eyes never leaving her nails, “Who was it that started the last 3 wars?”

“There have only been 2 major wars between our villages,” was the man’s automatic response.

The woman’s wicked grin grew, “ _Riiiiight,_ because officially anything you lose isn’t counted as a _real_ war?” those thin black eyes rose a moment to sneer at the man, “And for the record there’s been 5 wars between us, officially, just since I’ve graduated, with countless skirmishes, just so you know.”

The Konoha ANBU was silent; no comment to be made as if the man was denying the woman had even said a word.

Against his better judgment Shishio couldn’t help but glare at the Konoha ANBU. He knew Shinobi were shady at best but to utterly deny things out of hand was idiotic. Not that he could say anything, he hated to admit it but the woman was right, from what he’d known dealing with Konoha consisted of pride and posturing so thick that if they didn’t win or things didn’t go their way it didn’t happen. What his mother saw in that Senjuu moron must have been extravagant because no one else in his village seemed to be worth all the sacrifices she’d made.

The Kumo woman cracked her knuckles loudly, finally looking at the Konoha ANBU, “Now, let’s do something I know you’re not very good at and cut all this posturing bullshit,” her thin black eyes narrowed as her face became frighteningly serious, “You’re here to stop me from giving this guy the terms for their alliance with us, and should that fail you go into clean up mode, right?”

The Konoha ANBU was perfectly still.

“Clean up?” Shishio faced the woman seriously, “What do you mean Kumo?”

Her eyes never left the man across from her even if she was addressing the Uzu leader, “Clean up means simply that if he fails to stop me from speaking to you he’s to kill you and blame it on me, cuing another war between Kumo and Konoha where Konoha will _conveniently_ come to Uzu’s aid,” her eyes narrowed even sharper, “Where they will likely claim the territory, out of Uzu’s ‘gratitude’ for them coming to their aid and gaining their vengeance where they will basically have free reign of your entire village and its resources.”

Killing intent filled the room as purple daggers pointed at the Konoha ANBU, “What the hell does your village think its doing!!”

“That’s quite a story, Kumo,” the Konoha ANBU’s flat voice filled the air, completely ignoring the man raging, “I wonder where you came up with such a fantastic tale…”

Reki merely shrugged, “It was our backup plan too,” she pulled something out of the top pocket on her vest under her jacket, a slim cigarette that she quickly placed in her lips and lit with a cheap lighter, “Though we have better use for this idiot while you guys don’t like him because he sure as hell doesn’t like you…” despite the confession incriminating her the woman grinned wide around her cigarette.

Shishio now stared at the woman. how could someone be so flippantly honest and be an ANBU Commander for Kumo, and worse how could just so bluntly state she’d planned to kill or possibly worse to him should her mission fail, _right in front of him!_

She took a long drag, breathing out smoke slowly, “So, Konoha, now that all plans are revealed,” thin black eyes smirked at the mask across from her, “That leaves only one thing left to do…”

For the longest second the two ANBU stared at one another…

Then several things happened at once.

The Konoha ANBU disappeared, reappearing for a moment to stab Shishio in the neck…

Only to freeze as suddenly his head fell off its shoulders…

And Reki extinguished her cigarette in an ash tray that appeared on the table in front of her.

Shishio could only stare. He was a hundred years old and an experienced Shinobi and he had barely registered a thing. He’d managed to stand, pulling a hook from his belt as a defense as his hand moved to activate a seal… only to see the man’s head fall off…

Frantically purple eyes traveled to the black haired woman still sitting down as she put out her cigarette in an ash tray he didn’t remember being there.

That’s when he noticed the fourth presence in the room, or really _saw_ her as he didn’t feel a single thing from the small white haired girl now standing at the ANBU’s side. She had pale skin, short white hair on top with a thin braid he saw as she bent to pick up the ash tray, an all white plain outfit better fit for a prisoner and grey eyes that were sharp but didn’t seem to see anything.

“Whelp,” Reki stood up, dusting off her jacket and not making any motion to the kid, “Guess that’s how they want to play this…” putting her hand in the high collared jacket’s pockets she looked down at the girl, “Have the shocktroops remain here, we will hunt down what remnants they have nearby, understood?”

The girl gave a curt nod, “As you wish Commander. A question?”

The woman had leaned down, grabbing her mask and replacing it, ignoring her hair, as she moved to push open the doors to Shishio’s back room, revealing several ANBU in Kumo motif’d masks and several oddballs in all white like the little girl, “Sure, ask.”

Again the girl nodded behind the woman, “We go where there is the most danger, we should be the ones hunting…”

“No,” the woman’s voice was harsh coming through the mask, blank, unfeeling, but harsh, “This is the most dangerous place to be, you will remain here and protect our assets, understood.”

“Yes,” the girl gave a low bow submitting obviously to the woman in the black Oni mask’s authority.

The black Oni mask faced the crowd of gathered ANBU, “Spread out, we have vipers to catch.”

The entire crowd gave a single firm nod before disappearing. The ones in white remaining.

“You,” the ANBU Commander pointed at the group of fifteen in front of her, not one wearing a mask but none looking wholly there in their uniform white prison-like outfits, “Stay.” She pointed at the ground like a command someone would give a dog before walking forward, the girl in white and the others remaining.

“Kumo Commander!!” Shishio yelled across the room before the woman could Shunshin away.

The grinning black Oni mask turned to him, its face much more intimidating then the one he’d seen behind it. After a moment she reached into her jacket, pulling out a scroll, and tossing it at the man, it landing on the table mere inches from him.

For a moment the red head stared at the contract, the woman in black, and back.

“It seems you have no choice but to accept our terms, Uzumaki,” a re-gloved hand pointed at the headless body of the Konoha ANBU, “It’s likely he had either a bug or transmission seal on him, meaning there’s a team nearby that heard everything.” The masked woman’s hands went to her into her pockets, “Likely one of them ran to the army hiding a few hours away, informing them of your ‘decision’ and that it’s their chance to activate their backup plan: kill you and any dissenters and claim this place and its power for their own.”

Pale hands became fists at the man’s sides as he felt his entire world crumbling. First his mother, then his daughter, now this… purple eyes burned as he glared at the woman’s wicked mask, “And how do you know this?”

From her stand he could tell she was staring at him flatly, “Because it’s what we would do…” she pointed again at the scroll, “You can stay here and let them wipe you all out except for those foolish enough to join them or you can take our offer now and stop them from stealing any more of your family’s power.”

His fist were nearly bleeding. One side meant annihilation, the other meant a deal with the devil. Grinding his teeth he glared at the woman, all of this seeming so convenient, “And what are your ‘terms’…” he nearly spit the word, knowing they couldn’t been good for his people.

“Simple,” she held up one hand, “You join us,” at the man’s confused look she extrapolated, “I don’t mean Uzu becomes our allies, I mean your clan, what survives here, joins us, forsaking this place, your name, every tie that makes you recognizable as Uzumaki and become a part of Kumo.”

Purple eyes widened as Shishio stared at the woman, surprised at first before rage took over, “And why the hell would we do that?!”

“Because you care more about your family’s lives than a name,” the woman crossed her arms, “Konoha is going to come in here and wipe your people out anyway, Uzumaki are quite stubborn, we like that, and would rather keep that energy with us then destroy everything.”

“You just want the secrets of this village for yourselves!!” the old man spat, “You just want to pillage this place once we’re gone just like them!!”

For the longest moment the woman was still and the red haired man wished he could see the woman’s face. The only thing he saw was her hand closest to him tighten the slightest around her crossed arms, “We will destroy this village, whether you join us or not…” that hand tightened the slightest more, “Burn it to the ground so those pussy tree-huggers don’t get a single scrap, because unlike them I’m willing to tell you to your face I will kidnap whoever I have to to get what I want,” her hand finally released and if the man wasn’t hearing wrong he could hear the evil smirk in the woman’s voice next, “Because I am a member of Company 0 and well versed in getting what I want out of someone…” she walked closer to him as she spoke until her mask was looking up at him mere inches away, “So either swallow your pride and come willingly or you’re going to become my new plaything.” The black Oni mask tilted slightly, “Understood?”

Shishio just stared, rage filling his eyes and knowing he was beat. He was the leader of his Village, he had been on the frontlines in many wars and seen what both sides could do… the horrors the people from the mountains and forests could enact on others… there was only one choice he had to spare his people _some_ of that agony.

Tears welled up in the man’s eyes as he dropped to the ground on his knees. Uzu was lost…

“Good,” the demon’s voice was curt as he felt her turn around, addressing her ‘shocktroops’, “Gather his supporters, protect them, kill any invaders or those that resist and leave in 20 minutes, any left and they burn with the village.”

There was no verbal response but the emptiness was enough to know the mutes had agreed.

For several long minutes Shishio remained on the ground, feeling as chakra signatures flared around the village, battles erupting as his own people either resisted or some advanced forces fought back. He could feel so many people dying around him so quickly it was maddening.

Three signatures entered his back room and he only had the moment to look up, seeing the plain ANBU masks with the Konoha emblem before a flash and their heads left their bodies and the white girl was standing in front of him, offering her hand.

Shishio couldn’t think, taking the girl’s hand on reflex as he looked around, realizing he had been out of it longer then he thought as they were all gone and several new bodies littered his office, at least two wearing Uzu hitae-ate.

The little girl seemed to tilt her head, reading him, “They refused to come.”

Purple eyes turned to the girl, her placid face with not an ounce of remorse or emotion. She didn’t have a hitae-ate but obviously bowed to the ANBU Commander’s authority, “Why…?” he didn’t know why he asked or what he was asking, but he got an answer none the less.

“It was ordered,” she said crisply, offering her hand again, “Now we must leave, the deadline is almost up.”

“The deadline?” that’s when it hit Shishio, she was here to make sure he left, as agreed. That evil woman had only given them 20 minutes, there was no way to evacuate his entire village in 20 minutes!! “No, no!!” he grabbed the girl around the shoulders, “We need more time, my people, they-?”

“Will die.” Again the girl was disturbingly blunt as she grabbed his hand and pulled with surprising strength out the door, “The Commander ordered it, so it shall be, and you are a special case as the leader and one that agreed, you have no choice.”

Shishio tried to pull his hand out of the little girl’s grip but it was like steel, nothing he did seemed to budge her fingers and he did not want to resort to anything lethal, she was just a girl after all, “Let me go, I can walk on my own!!”

“I have to make sure you see it,” she said monotonously, idly throwing out a wired knife and skewering a Konoha ANBU between the eyes.

That’s when Shishio looked around them. There were already bodies, Konoha ANBU in those plain masks as well as several of his own people. Already there was the smell of fire and explosions in the distance, someone was fighting full force, trying to escape or steal from them was anyone’s guess.

That was also when Shishio noticed something else, there were very few civilian corpses and no children.

As if reading his mind the girl spoke not looking back, “We want as many as possible, we noticed many with children come more willingly and that suits us fine, we’re not interested in wiping them out.”

The man growled, purple eyes glaring at the girl’s head, “Children are easier to manipulate…”

“Children are foolish,” was her clipped response.

The man frowned, wondering if this was the future of his people, this emotionless child, “You’re just a child.”

“I am a weapon, nothing more,” was her quick response.

Purple eyes widened as the man tried to get the girl to stop, to explain, but she was adamant in her movements, nothing deterring her nor her hold on him, “You’re a child, you shouldn’t be here-” there was another explosion and suddenly she was thrown to the ground. Once he gained his bearings and the ringing stopped he rolled over and saw the girl standing in front of him, shrapnel covering her front as she flicked her blade, a decapitated body not far behind.

Again she offered her hand, “We must proceed quickly.”

Having nothing better to do then stare Shishio took her hand, was quickly tugged to his feet, and nearly dragged towards his village’s nearest exit. He couldn’t help but stare at the girl, there were cuts in her white uniform and it was only now he could see patches of blood. She’d risked her life for him, more than once and even more as they made their way to the village gate.

As they passed the gate, along with several other Uzumaki fleeing he looked down at their hands, noticing the girl’s sleeves had run up some from her and saw several light scars that nearly blended with her pale skin. They were too meticulous to be random, with suture marks on most of them and he could only wonder what kind of life this poor girl had gone through to be here now, saving his life.

By the time they made it to a cliff overseeing the village he heard the first explosions, the first sounds of his village going up in flames. The small girl allowed him a moment to look back, watch as the black Oni lit the fires herself while fending off other ANBU.

Shishio’s heart sunk, his family’s work, everything they had done for generations… in flames…

“We are nearly to the rendezvous,” the girl tugged on his hand again, pulling before he even fully turned.

They made it to the spot quickly; only a few of the white wearing people remained, crowding nearly a hundred of his people, mostly civilians, women and children and several unconscious shinobi.

The girl passed the crowd watching their village burn without any emotion, moving to one of the others in white; it was a tall bulky make that looked to have been covered in burns with spikes coming out of his shoulders.

“Casualties?” was her quick question.

The hulking monster seemed to just growl before holding up a clawed hand with his pinky, ring and middle fingers extended. The girl nodded before he pointed to one of theirs that was crouched nearby, obviously panting with his hands on his head. This was the first moment the girl let go of Shishio’s hand, moving towards the man frothing as he growled on the ground, all Shishio could see was he was of a small stature with shaggy platinum blonde hair that covered his face. The former leader of Uzu merely assumed it was man, as he watched the girl grab his head and seem to look into his eyes for a moment before he went limp and passed out on the ground.

She turned around, not an emotion on her face as she idly grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the crowd, cutting through them and pointing out as his village burned, “The Commander will demolish everything then have the Company bury the land under water once we leave…”

Shishio’s shoulders slumped as he stared, watching as his home burned, what people had still been in the village slaughtered by both Konoha and Kumo ANBU and the legacy of the Uzumaki destroyed. His purple eyes zeroed on the black Oni, watching as she cut his people and enemies alike, could practically hear the pleasure she was gaining from the slaughter and rampant destruction.

He hated the woman. He would hate her till the day he died.

Because she destroyed his home, scattered his people and worst of all… she was right…

This was the only chance his people had.

Purple eyes moved from the wonton destruction and looked at the girl still holding his hand, passive and unfeeling, “What’s your name?”

For a long time she didn’t respond, “I was assigned Subject Number XS376,” for the first time it seemed she fidgeted as Shishio’s eyes widened, “But if that does not suit your needs, I was named Kemui.”

“Kemui… -chan,” a great sadness passed over Shishio’s face as he looked at the girl, stripped of all emotion and called herself solely a weapon, before turning back to the destruction of his home, “Thank you…” out of his periphery he could see her turn her head towards him, “For saving my life…”

For a long moment the girl’s grey eyes stared at him as if she did not understand his words, but that didn’t matter. For Uzumaki Shishio stared at the destruction of his home, a burning rage filling in the void left by the sorrow as he watched. He’d lost his home, his people, but that wouldn’t stop him… he had two goals left in him now…

Save his daughter… and kill that woman.

And he had a feeling the Raikage wouldn’t mind either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again...
> 
> The Rashomon Effect refers to a Trope about an event where all the eyewitnesses interpret the information differently, thus each witness tells a different story, named after the movie Rashomon.


	11. They Call Me Dakini~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story of how Ruri and Kuri became the Masters of Taijutsu and Ninjutsu at the Kumo Academy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon - takes place about four years prior to the Academy Arc

‘They Call Me Dakini’

“ _Om mani padme hm… om mani padme hm… om mani padme hm…”_

Kurogami Ruri sat in a lotus position, legs crossed, back straight, fists touching knuckle to knuckle with thumbs up around her diaphragm with her head tilted slightly down as she repeated the mantra over and over again achieving blissful peace for a short while. It was an old mantra, one her mother and father had taught her along with martial arts, for they followed the old teachings of the masters of the Land of Lightning with the exception of violence. To her family and those that were shinobi that adopted the path there was no abhorrence to violence, like the standard ideology, to them it was merely part of their ‘way’, violence and peace went hand in hand and humans needed both to sustain themselves in this material world. There was no reason or cause to praise one and forsake the other, both existed only because of each other, the world simply went in cycles of which was dominant. At least, that’s what she believed and saw in the world.

At 22 she and her partner, Kitearu Kuri, were members of Company A, Kumo’s primary assault squad. They were the bulk of the military might of Kumo, the ‘hammer’ compared to other methods of coercion the Village Hidden in the Clouds used to gain what it wanted. She liked this position, as it did not require deception, it was the most blunt and honest of all the jobs of shinobi, they went onto the battlefield and merely wiped out anything and everything that stood in their way. It was simple, uncomplicated, and fit well within her view of the world. As meditation was her moments of peace, out on the battlefield was her moments of violence, and that was fine with her.

Right now she and her partner were on a rather blunt, if still somewhat ‘covert’, mission in one of the middle countries between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning. Konoha had become quite active recently and their Raikage wanted to know why… as well as make a show of obvious force.  Ruri knew how this situation was going to play out, between the three great wars and the minor wars between countries there were innumerable ‘skirmishes’, small micro-wars that never lasted more than a month and a handful of battles. They were quick and the victor easily determined, they usually happened because someone was trying to either _start_ another war or test the defenses of a rival Major Village. This was not unfamiliar to Ruri and her partner, as being members of Company A and one of the best pairs in it, she liked to believe, they were often sent as the ‘persuasion’ in these skirmishes. Where the opposing village would send a contingent of twenty to fifty shinobi, Kumo only ever needed to send a handful of shinobi, 2-3 pairs at most, or a single pair such as her and her partner.

Due to their constant successes of power many in the Company had come to call her ‘Dakini’, a female demon that trained under the Goddess of Destruction herself, Kali. Ruri had no issue with this, even started getting more and more tattoos to make her appearance resemble such demons to scare her enemies, as well as hide her numerous scars and seals for her trophies, and unlike most she understood there were many forms to Dakini; scholars and warriors, inspiration and vengeful violence,  teachers and punishers… she had no issue with this nickname.

Her partner, Kuri, had been given the offhand title of ‘Daikoku-ten’, a god of luck and guardian of dharma, the way, and was the Company’s way of saying it was all his doing the two of them were so lucky in victory while she was merely the muscle, fierce but only violent. Again, something Ruri had little issue with, her silent partner was her luck and her protector, moving the field to her advantage while she decimated the enemy up front. Many of their battles could be called legendary from the small feats the two of them could accomplish together and there wasn’t a single day she’d change of it.

But today was not a very lucky day…

While Ruri was peacefully meditating in their small camp, conserving her energy for any upcoming battles and replenishing herself from the ones they’d already fought, Kuri had gone off to scout the area and be the guard. She trusted him with this task, he never let her down. She knew that while meditating she could completely lose her sense of the world around her which was one of the reasons she rarely did it out in the field, but two weeks straight of battles with very little sleep or rest for her muscles required she replenish her energy somehow. With her trust placed in her partner she had entered the trance with the idea that in an hour she would recover what three nights of blissful sleep would have achieved so they could continue their mission.

Unfortunately with their rigorous battles Kuri had been just as worn out as she was but forcing himself for her sake. His attacks were chakra based and while he was a competent hand-to-hand fighter his physical body rarely needed the rest hers did, so he had agreed to scout the area while she recovered. He would just take another chakra pill and push on silently, like always, without complaint. Unfortunately he was on the brink of chakra poisoning and he knew taking anymore would be permanently damaging to his coils. The reality was the pair were at their physical and spiritual limits, but like any other Kumo-nin they wouldn’t stop until the mission was done or they were dead, it was just how they were.

Kuri had been incapacitated first, trying to fight without wasting any of his limited reserves but the fresh Konoha ANBU had been too much for him to handle on his own. They left him for dead, strapped to a tree with chakra-inhibitors and making it all too obvious his partner was their real target, too bad she was too out of it to come and save him.

Ruri had been deep into her meditation when something hit her strong in the face, a hammer of some type sending her flying through the canvas of their tent and slamming into the tree behind her. She was lucky her physical reflexes kicked despite her mind still trapped in the haze between the real world and the metaphysical one. Even partially unconscious, worn out and in muted pain, the woman landed on her feet in a perfect tortoise stance, feet wide and sturdy with her hands in front in relaxed positions ready to counter. One of the ANBU had moved in to distract her, the Kumo woman grabbing the smaller ANBU’s extended kick and switching effortlessly into an open palm style, striking the ANBU’s leg hard enough to dislocate their knee. There was a muffed groan behind the mask before they were unconsciously tossed into another charging member of the ANBU team, the muscular Kumo woman shifting between styles as she dodged thrown weapons, deflected incoming strikes with fluid-like open-palm styles and came in with powerful iron fist attacks as she kept her attackers at bay.

It was a good ten minutes of fighting on reflex before the woman’s mind finally recovered from the interruption of her meditation and her conscious mind finally returned. Sadly this small snap in her fluid fighting was all it took to distract her long enough for a snake to slip under her defenses, wrap around her right leg and bite painfully hard, injecting the muscle with a severely painful poison.

“Argh,” Ruri had to bite down hard as her leg suddenly gave out due to the sudden pain. It wasn’t like being stabbed, it was as if every nerve in her leg just went into overload and sending only pure pain signals. She suddenly had no control of her limb and pain constantly disrupting her fluid movements, but she endured, she had to. – _Kuri…_ \- her partner was nowhere in sight and she couldn’t sense him. He had to be out there somewhere, if he wasn’t helping her then he was incapacitated, likely injured and needed her… she **_had_** to get past these bastards and find him.

The behemoth woman ignored the pain in her leg and continued fighting. She could feel the snake attempt to squeeze her leg more, probably crush it, but even with her nerves on fire she maintained the tension in her leg enough to prevent the cold-blooded creature’s attempts. She fell back, dodging the hammer, spun to avoid a sword and rolled, uppercutting the hammer-wielding while biting back the pain before letting herself fall out of another slash, raising her leg so the snake got cut off and _poof!_ ed out of existence while she rolled away. She landed in a tiger stance… that immediately crumbled as any weight on her right leg caused it to buckle. There was a harsh grunt as she bit back the pain, modifying the stance and putting her weight on her knee, pain or not, while waiting for the next strike.

Now awake and having the second her small black eyes took in her opponents. Konoha ANBU, four of them, big guy with hammer, average sized one with a sword, a smaller one in the back that looked to be a woman who was trying to pop her knee back to normal, and another normalish sized guy with two kunai. She bit her lip hard enough to bleed, just a means to focus on that pain as opposed to the searing in her leg as she prepared to further the fight. Normally a group of four was nothing to her as she could dance through an entire army unscathed but this just had to be the worst time… at least that’s what she told herself, as much pride as she had even she knew that occasionally the other villages developed Shinobi that were worth a fight.

- _Where the hell had that snake come from…_ -  her eyes continued to scan the area as the ANBU approached. The creature had ‘ _poof!!_ ed’ out of existence, meaning it was a summon… meaning one of these ANBU had to be a summoner… and from the files she read Konoha only had one snake summoner…

That’s when her battle senses roared and she reflexively turned around, expecting another fighter.

What she got was a mass of boa constrictors and someone’s voice muffled through a mask, “ _Senei Jashu!!_ ”

Ruri growled as the things flexed around her squeezing the air out of her lungs. She flexed to counteract their might, even managed to pull some off, and with various _poof!_ s some even disappeared. That’s when she felt various bites; on her neck, arm, stomach and seemingly anywhere the damn things could get to, though thankfully it seemed to be a different kind of poison. Despite her resisting and fighting she could feel a numbness spreading from the bites, obviously these ones had some manner of tranquilizer instead of whatever venom the other one had. Despite the drowsiness and heaviness of her muscles she kept fighting, dragging the snake-wielder out of the shadows and head-butting them, cracking their mask and probably their skull.

With the summoner incapacitated the snakes disappeared. Ruri immediately collapsed, breathing heavily as her whole body was cold and numb except for her right leg that still felt as if every nerve was firing at once. That pain in her leg was probably the only thing keeping her conscious as she steadied herself on her other leg, one arm bracing herself on the ground as her drowsy eyes glared at the approaching ANBU.

She could hear muffled voices but didn’t register what they said, just noticed as they approached, cautious, angry, weapons drawn. Her other leg gave out and now it was only her arms supporting her as everything continued to get cold and edges of her eyes were black. The moment something ‘not-cold’ grabbed one arm her body acted on instinct in a burst of whatever she could muster left, twisting the man’s arm around, grappling him and breaking his neck…

Unfortunately that was her last conscious act, as panting and wheezing she collapsed unconscious, everything she could muster to stave off the numbing and painful poisons gone in that defiant act of killing at least one of them. In her delirious and unconscious state she could feel one of them punch her in the face and for a moment she thought she saw stars…

\----

 _“You fucking idiot!!_ ”

_“BACK OFF!!”_

_“You could have killed her!!”_

_“I intend too!!”_

_“And I’ll help…”_

_“Both of you stand down!!”_

_“She killed Tori!!”_

_“She’s killed a lot of our people…”_

_“SO LET’S KILL HER!!”_

_“… and we’ve killed a lot of them!!”_

A scoff and shouting slipped into the darkness surrounding Ruri’s head.

_“Our mission was to capture one of them for interrogation, NOT KILL THEM!!”_

_“Feh, there’s always that baldy we left for dead, let’s just kill her and grab him…”_

- _Baldy…_ \- part of her clung to that, an image of a man with thin eyes and a serious face entered her darkness. – _Kuri…_ -

_“The mission was for the taijutsu master, not the ninjutsu one!”_

_“That’s just stupid!!”_

_“Aurgh!!”_

- _Taijutsu master…? Me?_ \- Ruri stirred the slightest, any movement causing pain to shoot through her body. Either those morons continued to beat her while she was unconscious or that poison in her leg had spread… despite be mostly unconscious she kept her reaction purely mental… then again she felt completely detached from her body, too drugged up and in pain to register much beyond the yelling properly.

_“Look, I’m the T &I expert here, we go for the one that we can likely get information out of…”_

_“You saw that woman right? How many of those pesky vermin did you sic on her and how long did she keep going? Hell she fucking killed Tori when she was practically numb and unconscious!!”_

_“And you were the idiot that told him to grab her!!”_

There was the sound of a harsh blow and something heavy landing next to Ruri. Her eyes were opened only a sliver, enough to register light and movement, and she could see that something had been thrown on the ground in front of her but beyond that she couldn’t really tell.

_“I’m warning you snake bitch, mouth off again and I’ll be sending back a KIA message along with yours and this cunt’s corpses… then we’ll just go grab that baldy and hand him over to that sadist you work for…”_

The person in front of her must have been the snake summoner, the following growl matched the voice that had used the technique to sic all those snakes on her.

_“Now where were we…”_

Ruri closed her eyes and focused on the world around her, using the ground as a means to see everything through the vibrations. She wasn’t as good as her partner at this as he was the one to show her how to do it, but it was enough to give her an idea of the positions of the ANBU and herself. They were no longer in the clearing by the camp she and Kuri had made and considering there were only four of them again, including the snake summoner this time, they must have either left their comrade’s body or disposed of it, likely the later.

The snake summoner was on the ground next to her, spitting out blood from the sound of it. The other three was standing not far away, the hammer wielder, the biggest, was grabbing his weapon and deciding what to do. The smaller guy and the other woman were behind him; apparently they’d fixed up her leg meaning one of them had to be some manner of medic.

 _“Let me do it…”_ the other woman, and it sounded like she unsheathed some weapon, too small to be a sword as the draw was short, likely some manner of knife, meaning close range…

 _“Hmp, fine… just make it painful,_ ” the hammer went head down on the ground and the large man was likely leaning on it as Ruri could feel the smaller woman approach.

 _“With pleasure…_ ” she approached close, obviously not worried she might be conscious or not…

Ruri breathed softly, her mind clearing as she counted the woman’s steps. Obviously they thought she was still in the throes of the poisons, unluckily for them the pain inducing one was working at full effect, and the numbing one was dampening it just enough that she could think. She could feel her arms tied behind her back, along with her legs tied together at the heels and attached to her arms; obviously these weren’t the average moronic ANBU. Luckily they were letting their feelings cloud their judgment and thinking that her being ‘incapacitated’ made it safe to approach… she’d prove them wrong.

The woman had crouched down, pushing the downed Kumo-nin to show her throat. Whatever the woman’s intentions had been… well, no one would ever know.

The downed snake summoner had registered something wrong and tried to warn the other woman, “Wait-!!”

But it was too late, with a show of impeccable muscular ability, Ruri had flung her legs up in a crunch, locking her knees around the female ANBU’S head and with another twist of her snapped the woman’s neck.

_“YOU BITCH!!”_

The pain that shot through her body from the action forced the blonde to bite on the gag around her mouth so hard as to nearly bite through it. She didn’t even register the swift kick to her stomach as her knees were forced to let go of the limp corpse and her body was going into seizing fits.

_“Stand aside, I’m going to break every bone this demon has!!”_

She came back to consciousness enough to feel that massive hammer come down on her right leg, right where that fucking snake had bitten it and the most severe pain was. “ARGH!!” she couldn’t help the scream, she could feel the fracture, feel that another hit and her femur would snap…

“YOU MORON!!” the snake summoner had leapt from the ground and tackled the large man with the hammer, preventing another strike. There was the sound of a scuffle, the smaller man that had kicked her grabbing the remaining woman while the large man got off the ground, “If that poison in her leg leaves her muscle and spreads to her heart she’ll _DIE!!_ Our mission will be a failure!!”

Ruri could hear a strike that was hard enough to send the woman’s mask flying as the large man growled, “Then good!! I’ve lost two teammates to this woman already and kami knows how many others of our comrades she’s wiped off the map,” there was a scuffle as the man’s voice lowered threateningly, likely grabbing the woman’s uncovered face to look at him, “I’m going to kill this Kumo demon, fuck our mission, we can always capture another one…”

All throughout the exchange Ruri listened, stilling her body from the fits and measuring her pain. They were going to kill her no matter what… as a member of Kumo she had her pride, if she was going to die here, bound and pumped full of poison, then she was going to deny her captors the only thing they had left to do to her. – _I’m sorry Kuri…_ \- with the thought of her probably dead partner she mustered the strength to sit up, shake her and stretch her body enough to snap the bindings that tied her arms and legs together and with a twist started bashing her elbow as hard as she could on her right leg.

“What the fu-CAPTAIN!!” the smaller man shouted, letting go of the snake summoner and pointing.

Biting the gag as hard as she could and seething Ruri gave another hit before leaning back and screaming to the heavens. Her femur had snapped, ripping through her thigh and a jutting jagged bone shown glistening in the night air as blood began to quickly pool from the wound.

“YOU FUCKING BITCH!!”  that hammer hit her in the head again, dazing her enough to momentarily forget the pain as tears fell from her tattooed eyes without her consent.

- _I’m so sorry Kuri… I’m so sorry…_ \- she was choking on blood and tears as the world around her was fuzzing out and turning cold.

“ ** _OOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUURAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”_**

With the edges of consciousness fading and the world growing dark and hazy Ruri saw a sudden blinding bright light, a massively beautiful beast of earth with glowing eyes stood over her as the ground shook and the distant sounds of battle began. Her small black hazy eyes just stared… - _Kuri…_ \- she knew he’d show up… he always did… she smiled and the world black and cold.

\-----

The next moment she woke was because of a pulsing pain in her fingers. There was a steady beat of the ground moving and wind stinging her wounds. She couldn’t feel her right leg as it hung limply, the other held in someone’s grip as their other hand braced her non-responsive arms around their neck.

She knew that thick neck, that green color, that smell of dirt and chestnuts.

Dizzily she tried raising her head, she couldn’t see straight and everything felt so cold. She should be dead, if not back there then she would be soon, she’d seen her leg, broke it herself to deny those Konoha bastards the satisfaction of killing her and the fact she couldn’t feel it meant she’d likely lost all the blood in it. At least it wasn’t hurting anymore, either the poison being drained out with her blood or it was so bad her brain stopped registering.

“Kuri…” her voice was so soft and so low she wasn’t even sure he’d heard her. There was something slick on the side of his face, it looked red, like blood.

He was injured, and still carrying her.

“Leave me,” was the first thing she said, meaning it honestly, she was dead anyway, he could make it back, live on without her. She tried to move, to make him release her, but her body was so drained, either from the blood loss or injuries, that she couldn’t move. Lifting her head to try and look at his face was taking everything she had left.

“Sleep,” was his one word response, completely ignoring her words like nothing was wrong. That was so like him.

Against her will and desire to save her partner, Ruri’s body betrayed her and set her head on his bloody collar. It was cold and warm and wet and she nuzzled into the familiar scent, collapsing into the familiarity.

This was safe, this was home, she could collapse here, he’d watch over her, he always did.

\-----

The next instance of consciousness was roused by the sound of beeping monitors. She felt heavy and drugged, her small black eyes opening slightly to catch only white. For a moment she thought her vision was going bad and with an annoying about of effort focused enough to realize that was just the ceiling being monotonous and white. Moving her eyes she saw little else, white walls, white curtains that were closed, and in between were white bands holding up a white cast.

She blinked, something about that registering that it should have been important.

But before her mind could put the pieces together something not-white moved into the side of her vision and suddenly there was a large man with thin eyes and a chubby face leaning on the side of her bed looking directly at her. There was something strange about his eyes, something that didn’t look right… then something white caught her attention and her eyes moved up, just above his left eyes as a huge bandage that covered nearly half his head. Without realizing it she had reached out to try and touch the white thing that shouldn’t have been there, her dark tan and tattooed arm unsteady and shaking as it took far too much effort to move the drugged appendage to its intended destination.

Her partner, ever the one to know what she wanted without a word grabbed her unsteady hand, his was very warm and rough, and pulled it to the bandage covering half his head. After a moment of her arm getting used to the feel of holding itself in that position, the man’s large warm hand lowered, letting her examine the bandage herself as his lowered to her wrist, just being there in case she needed it.

“Kuri…?” her voice was low, harsh from her throat being dry, as she stared at him.

He nodded, his brows knitting in the center slightly as a small frown tugged on his lips.

The gears in Ruri’s brain started running and she started to remember some of what happened, her hand on his bandage stilling, “The mission… what hap…” it took far too much effort to speak as she winced in pain trying to swallow gripping her hand.

In response Kuri raised both of his, taking her extended hand in his own and brought it down to her stomach, holding it between his as he looked at her, trying to keep a straight face, “Abandoned,” he rubbed her rough and scarred hand as he could feel her twitch, not understanding his word. The chubby man shook his head, momentarily reaching behind him to pull a nearby chair closer as he sat by her bedside, holding her hand, “Another team took it up, we don’t have to worry about it anymore…”

Her blonde brows furrowed, scrunching up her tattoos, “Th-those ANBU…”

“Taken care of,” his words were dark as his eyes became stern, “Only one of them got away, to warn them…”

Ruri squinted at her partner more, she’d never heard him say anything that threatening before, it didn’t make sense. She turned away from him, not bothering to remove her hand from his as she looked down the bed. Her body was stiff, there were seal wraps over what visible parts she could see… and her right leg was in a full cast. Her small black eyes just stared at the white mass, knowing what it meant…

“The doctors say you will recover…” he was always so perceptive.

She stared flatly at the mockery in front of her; “No, I won’t…” her voice was flat and devoid of life. She knew what a break like that meant, knew what it meant for her career, for her life… it was over. If she ever learned to walk again that would be a miracle but she would never, **_never_** be able to fight like she had, like she **_needed_** to ever again. She was broken beyond repair, useless, worthless…

Kuri gripped his partner’s hand tighter, knowing exactly what she was thinking… and having no idea how to fix it.

\-----

When Kuri had been incapacitated and left for dead by the Konoha ANBU his thoughts had only been of his partner. She needed him, not that she was incapable of defending herself, he knew better than anyone just what that woman was capable of, no she needed him in a different way, to support her, to keep her going, to be her reason she was fighting. She trusted him so wholeheartedly and so openly he couldn’t bare the idea of letting her down. He knew how she thought and what she would do in a situation if she thought he was dead. She would go down fighting; she was after all a cousin of the current Raikage, everyone from that bloodline, even if they were only related before the first Raikage, had this extreme drive and extreme way of thinking. The world for them was blunt and black and white, if her partner was dead, she would do everything in her power to kill those that did it and likely die in the process. This was simply the way of the world for her.

So he **_had_** to stay alive, **_had_** to get out of these restraints and find her.

The ANBU had surprised him, traveling silently through the trees only to attack him in force and one of them managed to poison him with a snake and they’d left him tied up to a tree just in case. They thought he was dead or going to be relatively soon. He had not been their target obviously, meaning they wanted his partner.

The drive to get back to her, to warn her and show he was there was the only reason he was still alive. He had put himself into a deep meditation, focusing on his chakra and slowing his heart rate to nearly nonexistent so he could prevent the poison from spreading, pinpoint it and expel it. It was a rather painful process that took more time than he cared to admit but once it had been force out of his system he was able to get his heart rate back to normal, breath and return to the world of the living. With a heavy breath he’d then went about disabling the seals and restraints, Konoha were such amateurs to think these basic seals would work, let alone restrict, someone like him.

After getting out of that situation he’d collapsed on the ground, breathing hard and pushing any fatigue or doubts out of his mind and body. He had a mission, save his partner and nothing else mattered. With his hands on the ground he managed to pinpoint the ANBU’s location and after struggling to his feet took off, gathering as much chakra as he could while he ran wanting to be as prepared as he could be.

He’d managed to get within visual range of them when Ruri had snapped the female ANBU’s neck. Part of him smirking, knowing that woman was deadly with any part of her body no matter her position. The fact she took a foot to the face didn’t make him happy, she was sluggish and not moving properly. She must have been poisoned like he had been. He had to suffer watching her take a beating as he drew closer, not wanting them to notice him just yet, but he trusted her, she could take it, and she was strong.

The second the other female ANBU, being held back by her own comrades, made mention of the poison that could kill his partner his blood ran cold. He knew what was going to happen before his partner snapped the rope holding her bindings together. His heart sunk as he saw her thrash to break her leg, bent on stealing the only satisfaction the Konoha ANBU had left…

He had been too late… he had failed her… she didn’t know… she was going to…

Kuri’s mind went blank.

“ ** _OOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUURAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”_**

The chakra he had been gathering released and he freely manipulated the earth around him as he charged the ANBU, bent on killing them as quickly as possible, but most importantly get Ruri out of there. She was a brash idiot, a damn fool, but she was his brash damn idiotic fool!! He managed to pierce the smaller male ANBU with an earth spike before they seemed to even notice. The woman, having been let go ran off into the forest, obviously not sticking around for what was to come. The last one charged at him, hammer raised and summoning fire with it as he struck out at the earth user. In his battle induced haze Kuri didn’t even care what the man did, spikes of earth jutting out of the ground at seemingly random before the man bashed them with his hammers.

He was so focused on the earth spikes he didn’t even notice Kuri come up on his side, beat rods extended as he used his chakra to add an excessive amount of weight to them as he brought them down and smashed the man’s head. In a last ditch effort the man’s useless body lashed out, the burning hammer coming up and striking Kuri in the head, cutting him deep and likely cracking his skull. Both men collapsed several feet from each other.

It took a moment but Kuri rose, left eye closed from the pain above it and the blood freely flowing from the head wound and watched as the man’s flailing body tried to stand on instinct, not caring about the fact he’d bashed a good portion of his brain in. angry and feeling a little more than vindictive, Kuri focused some chakra into his hand and slammed it on the ground, an array of spikes jutting out and making short work of what was left of the ANBU’s body.

He collapsed on his knees, breathing hard as the blood was cutting off a good portion of his vision as he tried to get his bearings. He need to get out of here, every instinct in the ninjutsu wielder screaming to run. – _Ruri_ \- he needed to find her, it was the only thing keeping him in this place longer than necessary. Upon spotting her body he quickly stumbled over to her, looking her over and noticing the blood pooling around her body, the ugly bone sticking out of her leg and sightless way her eyes were staring up at the sky.

He collapsed on his knees above her, clinching his teeth and breathing in short breathes, “Ruri,” it was little more than a barked whisper as his shaky hands made it to the woman’s face, finger tips gliding over her tattoos praying she wasn’t dead. He breathed in choked tight breathes as he could still feel some warmth in her cheeks, but it wasn’t until his thumbs made it to her lips that he registered she was still breathing.

“Hold on,” that one confirmation that there was life in her was enough to snap him into motion. With a flick of his wrist an earth spike rose out of the ground and cut the bindings around her ankles and wrists. Quickly he grabbed her arms and slung them around his shoulder, holding her wrists and grabbing her uninjured leg and taking off in the direction of Kumo. He didn’t care if he wasn’t delicate, Ruri wasn’t a delicate woman and she would understand his need for speed over comfort.

All he could think about was she was alive, he needed her to stay that way, needed her to keep breathing.

He’d managed to travel for an entire day before she stirred momentarily and his heart clinched when the first thing she said was that he leave her. His mind was blank and he said the first thing that came to mind, “Sleep.” Soon enough she did, collapsing and not waking since. He pushed himself faster.

By the second day they’d made it past the boarder and to a base where Ruri was given emergency medical attention, really only enough to ensure she would survive being shipped back to Kumo. Kuri had refused treatment, staying by his partner’s side, even when they put her through minor surgery to make her mobile, and punching his superior’s face when the man even suggested he leave his partner to the medics back in Kumo and continue his mission.

No one had ever seen Kitearu Kuri furious or disobey a direct order. The fact he displayed both in less than an hour of getting to the base and never left his partner’s side was enough reason for everyone there to give him a wide berth. The captain in charge of this section of Company A was unconscious for three days after Kuri socked him, which was graciously long enough for the medical team to make Ruri suitable for travel and ship the two partners back to Kumo for actual treatment.

The Commander of Company V had been required to keep Ruri alive and the eel-like woman was far more intimidating then the lower Company A jounin. Kuri had been forced to sit outside in the waiting area while the surgery took place and it wasn’t until hours later when his partner had been moved out of surgery into recovery and he’d bullied his way to sit by her bed that he’d finally had some manner of medical attention.

He was suffering from **_severe_** chakra depletion, the fact he was still standing was due to sheer willpower alone. The red-eyed nurse had to call in three other nurses just to knock the man out so they could fully assess his injuries and allow his body to recover the necessary chakra to keep on living. If the man pushed himself any more he’d either burn out his coils or kill himself, and as much as Kumo medics were willing to ‘re’-injure their patients to get them to sit still they **_did not_** let anyone just die for no damn reason. In a fit of benevolence, or insanity, the Commander of Company V had ordered the two be placed in the same recovery room. This was enough of a shock to cause several heart attacks among the hospital staff but the order had been heeded.

Kuri had awoken three days later in a bed next to Ruri’s. Immediately he had jumped out of it to stand next to her bedside and look her over. She was pale and clammy, her hair limp and matted in places and she looked so weak attached to machines with seal-wraps everywhere and that cast on her leg. He had collapsed to his knees, hand tightly holding hers and cried quietly into the sheets of her bed.

Despite all that she looked beautiful to him simply because she was alive.

It wouldn’t be until a week later that blonde brawler finally opened her eyes. Kuri had stayed by her side as much as physically possible, checking on her contention and making sure it didn’t worsen while being yelled at by hospital staff to take care of himself as well. The nurses had made a point of saying how pissed his partner would be if she woke up and he looked like a skeleton, it had worked, and the chubby man had made it a habit to bring food and eat it while waiting for her to wake up.

Of course his moment of joy at seeing awake and alive was ruined by the crumbling reality of what was in front of them. Her leg. An injury like that was enough to put most shinobi out of commission, it was even worse for Ruri because she was a Taijutsu type, she relied on her entire body working as a fine tuned machine of war, if one piece was broken beyond repair there was little that could be done to alleviate this problem. If she had been a ninjutsu type like him or heaven-forbid a genjutsu type this type of injury wouldn’t be a problem, hell they probably could have just amputated the leg and sent her to Company P and gotten a prosthetic. But no, she was Ruri, called ‘Dakini’ by their comrades for the way she danced on the battlefield slaughtering their enemies with their own weapons and her exceptional taijutsu skills.

Now she couldn’t dance, couldn’t fight, couldn’t move with the fluid efficiency she had spent years honing. He had overheard the doctors that checked on her, how they said they had to remove some of her muscle tissue because it had begun to necrotize from the poison injected or the blood loss, how due to this imbalance if she fought at her normal level she’d likely rebreak her leg or rip all the remaining muscles in it, likely both. There was a chance she could learn to compensate, learn to fight in a way that was ‘less’ and didn’t put as much stress on the leg, but there was no way she’d be back to being ‘Dakini’. Her career as a front line shinobi was effectively over.

And that was the cold reality facing them as he watched her small black eyes take in the cast on her leg not long after she had woken up. He could see it, that spark of joy and life that was normally in those frightening eyes was gone, snuffed out by the reality staring right in front of her. No one had to tell her, she was a physical master, she knew what this meant.

He held her hand, knowing her will to live had just gone…

\-----

A large hand slammed down on the desk with enough force to shake the few papers on it, a piece of paper underneath it.

“I quit.” Was the rough low voice of the man that had slammed the piece of paper down on the desk.

Terribly familiar small black eyes stared at the hand slammed on his desk to the thin dark eyes of the chubby man’s face, “And if I refuse…”

The man’s dark brows lowered, scrunching up the bandage on his head, “Then I’ll become a nuke-nin.”

It wasn’t an idle threat and the Raikage could see that. The man in front of him had stormed into his office and slammed the resignation forms down before he could so much as get a word in. if he remembered correctly from various reports from the skirmish near the border, this was the jounin from Company A that, along with his partner, spent two weeks in enemy territory successfully beating back Konoha strike teams until they’d had an incident, his partner becoming fatally injured, and while managing to eliminate the remaining enemy, ANBU no less, had been forced to retreat for medical reasons. In the Raikage’s mind the man in front of him was damn lucky, not only able to fend off the ANBU that had attempted to capture his partner but get her back to Kumo, alive. Few partnerships in such a position are so fortunate…

Now the man he was seriously considering giving a medal of valor was trying to resign, that wasn’t good.

A tiny blonde brow rose on the Raikage’s forehead as his beady black eyes went from the paper to the man’s serious face, “Tell me why you are quitting,” his eyes narrowed, “Be truthful and I may consider it.”

The thin frown spread on the chubby man’s face but he sat down in the chair opposite the Raikage, “With my partner injured as she is, it is likely my superiors would want to reassign me to someone else and send me back out,” against his will Kuri’s hands tightened into fists, only the Raikage noticed, “They won’t give her time to recover, and refuse to leave her.”

The Raikage leaned back in his chair, idly rubbing his goatee, “Will she recover?” the way the man’s fists tightened was all the answer he needed. His tiny black eyes glanced at the resignation paper again, “So you think the answer is to quit.”

“I will not leave her, Raikage-sama.” The man was forceful, deliberate, and honest. That was all the Raikage needed to know to understand this man would do whatever he thought was necessary.

Still rubbing his goatee, the Raikage went about thinking aloud, “So your only issue is that the two of you not be separated?” the chubby man across from him gave a curt nod, “Hmm,” shifting his beady black eyes to a pile of papers on his desk, the blonde Oni idly grabbed a folder from the stack and looked it over quickly, “If I recall your record and hers is quite impeccable, Kitearu Kuri and Kurogami Ruri, correct?”

“Yes,” the man tensed at his and his partner’s name, wondering what the leader of their village was trying to get at.

The Raikage skimmed a few more lines of the folder he had open, “If I’m not mistaken your specialty is Ninjutsu while hers is Taijutsu correct?”

“Yes?” his voice lowered slightly, cautious of what the man was getting at.

The large man behind the desk snapped the folder closed, setting it down and staring at the man in front of him, “Will she be able to teach other?”

Dark brow furrowed as Kuri stared at the man confused, “I’m sorry?”

“Your partner,” he waved his hand nonchalant, “when she recovers, will she be able to train others, say genin in various martial forms?”

The bald man’s thin eyes remained narrowed, still not getting what his leader was getting at, “The only stipulation I was warned about is that she will be unable to fight to her full potential as it risks repeating her injury.”

“So she will be more than capable of fighting at, say, half her peak ability?” the man made a flippant gesture with his hand making Kuri wonder if he had any idea about his partner’s full ability.

- _Of course he does, they’re cousins…_ \- he had to shake his head with a lower grunt, trying to push down the disgruntled anger he felt at this odd line of questioning, “As far as I know yes,” his thin eyes opened sharply to look at the man, “And even if she can’t, nothing will stop her from trying…”

A sinister smirk passed the large Oni’s face as he tented his hands in front of him, “Wonderful,” he lowered his hands enough to push the folder towards the jounin, “Fill these out and report to the Academy in two months,” his grin spread as he watched the surprised look pass the man’s face, “You have that long to get her through recovery before the Masters start looking at candidates for successors,” the Raikage leaned to one side, smug grin on his face, “You both will have to be regular teachers for a while, and despite it being quite a pay cut from frontline fighters, you’ll be able to continue working together…”

Tenderly Kuri reached out and took the folder, opening it and seeing the forms inside for transfer to the Academy as jounin instructors. His eyes blankly scanned the paperwork before turning to the man behind the desk, “Why?”

Of all the questions he was expecting that wasn’t exactly one of them. A small blonde brow quirked on the Raikage’s face as he lowered his hands in front of him and looked over the jounin quite sincerely, “You are a good soldier,” the bald man’s dark brows lowered confused, “Both of you,” the Raikage’s voice was low and serious as he looked the chubby man in the eye, “My cousin and I may not be the closest but we’ve fought several times, if it weren’t for her I doubt I’d be sitting in this chair,” he idly pointed at his desk, “So I owe her this much, but it is also from that experience I know she’s a good teacher, she may not know it, but she is,” he pointed at the man across from him, “And while I’ve never heard a word about you from her that just tells me you’re a man that doesn’t cause her any trouble, meaning you are someone she trusts, and you actions in saving her life is enough to tell me you are exactly the type of person I want teaching the next generation of our shinobi.”

“But, sir-” Kuri moved to protest, knowing he wasn’t someone that should be teaching shinobi, he failed, let his emotions and attachment prevent him from continuing his mission. Hell, he punched his superior, it’s surprising he wasn’t court marshaled already.

That smug grin picked at the large Oni’s face again, “Those old farts teaching at the Academy now were assigned by my father,” his voice lowered as a serious look came over his face, “It’s about time someone **_I_** feel is worthy and with the right attitude teaches these kids, understand.”

The large man’s hand tightened on the folder, closing it as he nodded, “Yes, sir.”

“Good,” the Oni waved his hand, “Now get out of my face, I expect good results from you two.”

Kuri immediately stood and nodded, saluting the village leader before heading to the door. He was a foot from it, hand extended on the handle, before he turned enough to look at the hulking man sitting behind the desk, “Who will be the third?”

A small blonde brow piqued, “Leave that to me, you worry about my cousin, understand.”

With another firm nod Kuri decided to let it go, whoever the third, the Genjutsu Master-to-be was he’d have to trust in the Raikage’s judgment… and pray he and his partner were chosen.

\-----

Barely a week from waking up and Kuri had come into her hospital room, threw down a folder in her lap and said quite succinctly, “Sign it.”

Ruri had only blinked, staring from him to the folder and back several times before pushing the rolly tray aside and picking up the folder. She knew better than to question her partner, he was rather stubborn and probably the only person in the world that could out-stubborn her on any issue, so she’d become used to simply doing what he said, it saved the both of them a lot of time. Part of her was hoping these were discharge forms, the higher ups and medical staff finally deciding to stop beating around the bush and finally admitting she was unfit for service. It hurt to think about, but it’d be better to get the disappointment over and done with instead of dragging it out.

So when she opened the folder and saw transfer papers, to the Academy no less, with half of them already filled out by her partner she couldn’t help but blink and slowly turn to look at him, surprise and confusion on her face, “Kuri…?”

Her voice was so small, so broken and so surprised, seeking for a moment something he knew she hadn’t dared to try, hope. He had to force his face to not move, to not crack, to not break, as he looked at her firmly, hands behind his back as he said in as even a voice as he could, “Sign it.”

For a moment that spark was back in her eyes, not fully, just a small flicker, but it was enough to life the weight of guild from the man’s heart for just a second.

Without another word she had taken the pen attached to the folder and signed the sheets where necessary, trusting her partner to bother with the details, before closing the folder and holding it out to him. She was looking at him, unsure and questioning but he knew she trusted him.

He took the folder, conveying in his eyes what no words could say. She trusted him, he would make sure she never lost that. After the quick exchange he left, intent to turn in the forms as quickly as possible and see how quickly he could get her discharged.

Ruri just continued staring at the door her partner had left. She had no idea what he was thinking – _The Academy? Why?_ \- the only reason anyone transferred to the Academy was to get out of being genin instructors. Technically she and he hadn’t done their required ‘teaching’ stint yet, so she supposed that’s what he was doing? Applying for that to extend their time together just a while longer?

The healing woman deflated, falling back on her stack of pillows and staring up at the boring ceiling for another day of useless nothing. When he’d come in she had been grateful for the momentary distraction, but he’d left so quickly that it hadn’t really done anything to help her mood at being stuck in this place. Idly she glanced at her leg still in the cast, even with seals and salves it was going to take awhile to fully heal, and then it would take even longer to get used to being unable to really push her leg. It was going to be a long and aggravating road she knew, especially when at the end of it she knew her entire world was just going to be taken away anyway.

She was a frontline fighter, not some pencil pusher or as Kuri seemed to think, a teacher. The only thing she was good at was hand-to-hand and weapon combat, how could she teach a bunch of kids if she couldn’t **_do_** either of those? She just sighed, putting her hand to her face, “Kuri, what are you thinking…”

It was going to be a long couple of months.

\-----

Ruri and Kuri had shown up to their first day as Academy instructors with her having a crutch and him with a broken arm. They’d had a fight the night before ending with her inadvertently breaking his arm and having to take him to the hospital while she limped around on a crutch since even two months later it was difficult enough applying significant pressure to her right leg.

The other Master-wannabes had just looked at the two and wrote them off like they had failed already.

By the end of the day Ruri had scared the hell out of her students, whipping them in line quickly by showing them just what a cripple could do, beating into their heads, literally ‘don’t underestimate your enemy’ as several of the students went home with sore joints as the masterful Taijutsu expert had dislocated several of the more unruly kids’ joints, using it as a prime example to teach the second year students proper means for disabling their opponents.

Kuri’s ninjutsu classes had been little different, several of the students not taking the new instructor seriously thinking he couldn’t do anything Ninjutsu-wise due to his arm being broken. The class got to learn all about one-handed seals and the fact that one should never underestimate a creative Ninjutsu expert.

Within a week the other upcoming instructors had been floored, it was as if those two, as dysfunctional and dangerous as they were, were **_made_** to teach these kids both the harshness of the reality they were getting into and how to survive it. The students were actually interested in their classes, wondering what next the duo would pull to teach them all a worthwhile lesson.

Ruri spent her breaks complaining to Kuri about the inanities of the students, different ways she’d figure to use to get them out of certain ways of thinking and other mishaps along the way. Kuri only nodded along, inwardly smiling. His partner may not have noticed, and probably never would, but after that first month, even with the crutch still, the light in her eyes she gained from fighting had returned. He knew her injury would always be a hindrance and with time she’d eventually be able to walk again without a crutch and probably even fight, but despite her never being able to return to her glory as the ‘Dakini’ on the frontlines she was just as powerful in a classroom. The name truly did suit her, a fierce demon on the battlefield and a vigilant instructor.

It was no wonder that after the six month minimum trial period they were picked as the next Taijutsu and Ninjutsu Masters. Ruri had been thoroughly shocked, having not realized they were even in the running. Kuri had simply smiled, accepting the titles for both of them.

Now they just had to wait and see who the Genjutsu Master was going to be…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dakini- in Tantric Buddhism ‘She who moves through space’ a female spirit that is a form of inspiration with various levels including a physical one often as a Yogini (female Yogi/tantric practitioner/wiseman), in Hinduism a female demon in train under Kali that eats human flesh, considered malevolent and vengeful female spirits (male version: Daka) in Japanese Buddhism a female spirit associated with Kitsune as well as goddess named Dakiniten, who is associated with Inari and Daikoku-Ten (One of the 7 lucky gods in Shinto and a variation of Mahakala a Hindu aspect of the Destroyer(Shiva) and dharma protector/guardian)


	12. Little Things, Subtle Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story of how Seichi became Kemui's subordinate...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon - takes place a few years before 'A Day in Kumo'

When Utsurabon Seichi was 15 his whole world was turned upside down.

At ten he’d passed his graduation test and became a genin.  When he was twelve his partner died and he was recruited by ANBU. A thirteen he was chuunin rank. By fourteen he was Jounin. Neither of those mattered as being an ANBU meant you had no rank that meant anything to them, just so long as you got the job done.

For the most of his career Utsurabon Seichi got the job done.

Until he was fifteen…

When he was fifteen Kumo was in a territorial ‘dispute’ with Iwa that was quickly escalating. With the escalation there were more battles, more fights, more injuries, and the red eyed medics of Kumo were called to the front, like always. The herbalists and alchemists were the closest thing Kumo had to legitimate doctors, sure they had medical-nins that used older, ‘barbaric’, forms of medicine such as sutures and amputations, but the Utsurabon were particularly required as they were the ones in charge of some of the most _devastating_ poisons and anesthetics Kumo had to offer.

‘ _Anything that can heal can kill, and anything that can kill can heal’_

That was the family creed, they were both mass murderers and saviors and they understood the fine line between a ‘Doctor’ and a ‘Butcher’ better than most. It was in their blood, in their veins, in their very heritage of their distinct red eyes. In Kumo there was a saying, ‘Red eyes, red heart’ and most outsiders think it means the mountain peoples’ rage, when in fact it’s meant as a warning about the indigenous red eyed Utsurabon who can kill as easily as they save.

But that all meant very little to Seichi, he had learned well from his parents both the art of healing and killing, usually with the same tools. When he was brought into ANBU he had moved out of his parents’ home and into the ANBU quarters. He’d had little contact with them since and it wasn’t because he hated his parents or had issue with them, no he’d just been incredibly busy. ANBU squads needed medics more than the normal squads and as one of the few he’d been bounced around all the ANBU Companies, going where he was needed. Occasionally he was a partner in a poison assassination for 4, or patching up an amputation from 3, or stitching up shrapnel wounds with salves for 8. It didn’t matter where he went, it mostly consisted of death and dying.

At fifteen he’d say he was used to such things.

One day, when he was fifteen, he received a note, a portion of a KIA list from the front.

In the middle were the names of his parents.

It was the first time Utsurabon Seichi was truly shocked by something. The stoic young man just stared at the sheet of paper, standing in the locker room with his suit half on, covered in the gore from his last mission and didn’t move for over an hour.

He felt like his heart had stopped, and being a medical professional from his family’s line of teaching he knew exactly how that really felt.

What surprised him even further was when one of the other ANBU, one with a grey ominous mask that was mostly indistinct and looked like a rock wrapped around their face, pulled him out of his stupor and told him to go to the hospital.

Numbly the tall sandy red head had nodded, walking out without a word and making his way to the familiar setting of the white walls of Kumo General Hospital. Without thinking he headed towards the basement, where the morgue was, expecting to have been summoned there to confirm the bodies of his parents and any other kin killed out on the Iwa front. He had been marginally surprised when he’d been directed by the coroner to go to the third floor instead, as they didn’t have any of the bodies yet but recognizing him, or at least his eyes, as likely the Utsurabon requested.

Again, numbly, Seichi had made his way to the third floor, not even registering what it was or remembering what was on that floor. He was still suffering shock and he knew it, just moving where directed.

When he’d passed a large open window and caught the sound of crying babies something in him jarred, and the hardened ANBU medic turned to stare at the nursery.

A little to the right and about two rows from the window was a particularly noisy baby, crying its little heart out. Seichi couldn’t quite see much of it from where he was standing but the pink blanket suggested a girl and from the flailing baby limbs he could tell she had dark skin typical of Kumo. There were only two other newborns in the nursery, looking distinctly smaller than the crying pink bundle, and they didn’t seem fazed at all by her ruckus.

Something about the baby girl crying called out to the red eyed ANBU, causing his heart to clinch, but Seichi was a subtle man and the only outward expression of this was the man raising his hand on the window, right where the little girl was as if trying to console her.

A nurse passed by, a strawberry blonde woman with familiar red eyes but paler skin, who nearly jumped out of her skin upon seeing the red head in the black ops outfit staring into the nursery. “Oh!! Um…” the moment  his unfocused red eyes turned to her she seemed to jolt, recognizing him, raising one hand on reflex towards her mouth, “Oh my god… Seichi-chan…” she reached out to grab his arm but stopped half way there, biting her bottom lip and taking a step back, “This-this is a terrible time… but…” her own red eyes glanced towards the nursery, “Well… you’re the next of kin…”

For the longest moment Seichi stared at his relative, then followed her own red eyed stare and spotted the baby that was crying nonstop. It didn’t click for him until he suddenly whipped his head around and back on her, “W-wait… you don’t…?”

The nurse looked sympathetic, pulling her clipboard from her arm and handing it to him, “She… she’s your sister, and with your parents gone…”

This was probably the only time the subtle young man bore an obvious face; eyes wide in shock as he stared from the nurse’s face to the medical papers turned his way. The baby in there was his sister, she was three months old and his sister.

The first news he’s heard from his parents in two years is that they’re dead… and now he has a three month old sister.

If asked later Seichi would only say he didn’t remember what happened after that. Apparently he had signed some papers, given some ‘advice’, handed the three month old who **_finally_** stopped crying much to the nurses’ relief and managed to walk back to his small barracks cot, baby in hand before his mind registered anything that happened.

“Red?” another ANBU had walked up to him, waving a hand in front of his face.

Red eyes blinked as Seichi turned towards them, not really recognizing the mask, only that it was a woman.

She pointed at the baby in the pink blanket in his arms, “Your next op is up, I could watch her?”

That was when Seichi realized, at fifteen, he could no longer be a frontline ANBU…

He looked down at his sister, such a little thing, and he could feel the tightness in his face as he forced himself to hand her over to the stranger. He was an ANBU of Kumo, he had a job to do…

“Shhh… c’mon kid, dad’ll be back soon,” the woman tried to coo as the pink blanket exploded into a wailing fit the moment he stepped away.

He didn’t have the heart to correct the woman or turn around and take his sister back. He was an ANBU of Kumo… he had a job to do…

\-----

Two days, it was a rush patch job and he came back as soon as someone was injured enough to need serious medical attention. He hadn’t even bothered to double check the patient, dropping them in the emergency room before rushing back to the barracks and find his sister. The little pink bundle had been the only thing on his mind, the only thing he could think of and consumed him with a worry he’d never felt before.

He threw open the barracks door, expecting to hear wailing only to find it rather quiet, a low humming coming from the back.

Making his way over and around a row of cots Seichi caught probably the most unusual sight. There were four ANBU, three huddled around a fourth who were all unconscious, two smaller guys, one woman that wasn’t the one he’d given his sister to, and the one in the center was a HUGE burly guy with a horned mask humming as he rocked the baby in his arms. Taking a second to examine the scene Seichi noticed not one of their uniforms was clean, each having some manner of spittle or drool on it mixed with whatever else they’d had on them, with stretch marks and random makeshift toys they’d constructed out of pillows and bed sheets. ANBU could be rather creative when given a task, he’d say that.

The large man humming glanced up, noticing the red head standing there and staring. He put a finger to his mouth, smiling slightly, “We’ve had a baby watch since you left… was our shift.”

Seichi could only look around, surprise plain as day on his face along with a gratefulness he couldn’t possibly express.

The large ANBU got up from the pile, stretching as his back popped and trying not to move in a way that would wake the baby. The younger man could hear a chuckle in the senior ANBU’s voice as he handed her over, “Little spitfire that one’ll be…”

Seichi could only dumbly nod as the large man walked off, cracking his back and lumbering to his rack, before turning to his sleeping sister. They’d changed her blanket, lord knew what happened to it, as she was wrapped in someone else’s fresh black ops suit and looked to be recently changed. She was asleep and safe, and it was only now he noticed the tufted of dusky pink hair sticking out on top of her head. It reminded him of his mother.

Without a word he breathed in deeply, trying to stem the tears that were threatening to fall.

\------

A week.

It had only been a week and already he was being threatened with losing his sister.

The other ANBU in his barracks didn’t seem to mind the baby, much, and several would help to watch her when he had to go somewhere. But it was obvious something had to be done, they all knew Seichi couldn’t raise a baby in the barracks, and while most of them had regular homes for when they were off duty the young ANBU only had the barracks.

It was with an exasperated sigh that someone suggested he just move back into his parents’ old place, as they were gone it’d be free for him and the baby. The guy got punched for being a dick but his advice was right. Quickly Seichi had packed what little he had and moved back into the home he’d left three years ago.

It was… horrifyingly nostalgic.

Upon opening the door he was hit with old smells of antiseptics and herbs, rough cut stone and something wet. It… it was home, something he never thought he’d be returning to under these circumstances.

He spent the first day cleaning up while watching his baby sister, in the time since his parents went to the front the plants had over grown a bit and a good layer of dust had settled to the point he was honestly afraid to set ‘Xiao-chan’, a nickname the others in the barracks had come to call her, down anywhere without intensely cleaning it first. It was a miracle already the three month old hadn’t gotten sick considering the number of people she’d been exposed to in her short life.

The moment he realized that the young ANBU medic nearly had a heart attack.

By the second day, with the house cleaned, he realized he needed to do something. He needed to find a way to stay in the village, as a medic of ANBU quality he was highly valued, it was highly unlikely they’d let him quit just to raise his sister. Otherwise he would be forced to give her up and while some logical part of his mind said that was a viable option he utterly refused. She was the only family he had left and he hadn’t even known his parents had her!

By the end of the week he had an idea of a plan on what to do, it was risky and insane but if it worked he’d have security to watch his sister for years to come. If not… well he wouldn’t be around to see her grow up.

His superiors were already threatening him to get rid of her, as he was ‘unfit’ to raise the baby girl, being only fifteen, alone and an _extremely_ busy ANBU.

He had only one chance to do this…

\-----

It was common knowledge, among ANBU, that there was one masked person that didn’t work for the Raikage, instead she worked for his son.

The white wolf, a woman of unassuming stature wearing a white wolf mask with distinct scars over its right eye and long ears that wrapped around the face. She was relatively easy to spot, even among ANBU the ranks parted when she came by. It was rumored she was an Assassin, as in one from that clan, that refused to work for the Raikage and was banished. There were stories that she was an R&D test experiment on making a perfect soldier. There were even stories that she stood by the Bloody Captain’s side as the black Oni razed Uzushiogakure to the ground, likely helping out. Whatever the rumors at least one thing _was_ true, she was marked by the Third Raikage as a threat, and anyone that could take her out was granted whatever boon they wished.

It was said several veterans had tried, only to end up corpses, which is why she was still around doing whatever it was the young Gouzen Jinrai asked… and the stories of that were not something mentioned in ‘polite’ conversation.

Seichi was a fool, a desperate one at that, but if it helped him keep his sister… then he would face this dreaded white wolf.

It had taken nearly a day to find the wolf, let alone follow her. Whatever they taught her was far beyond what the average ANBU knew when it came to stealth and evasion tactics. He’d given up on the concept that she didn’t know he was there, call it a gut feeling but after the first few hours he just _knew_ she knew he was following her and was leading him along. Within ANBU she stood out like a sore thumb, having her distinct mask and permanently battle ready outfit but out in the public of Kumo it was like she was a ghost. A good chunk of the populace didn’t notice her, like she was just a background fixture, the few shinobi that bothered saw her as no threat, and when he recognized members of the Raikage’s Assassins glance her way it was as if they were seeing air. _Those_ guys never missed a beat, so it was exceptionally strange that they purposely glossed her over… like even they didn’t want to recognize her existence.

He’d yet to spot her with the Raikage’s son, as she was rumored to solely work for. There was one person he noticed she spoke with, a young looking man with platinum blonde hair that was surprisingly shorter than her. From his observation distance Seichi couldn’t tell what their relationship was, just that the short man was amicable to her, overly infectious in his gestures, and oddly enough never seemed to open his eyes, while the white wolf was just as aloof as she was around anyone else. It certainly piqued the young ANBU’s interest.

He wanted to keep following the strange duo but it was getting late and he was worried about his sister… let alone the poor ANBU watching her and probably ripping their hair out. It was… _impressive_ how much damage a little three month old could cause on veteran psyches.

The next day he’d awoken with a start, checking on Xiao-chan, finding her sleeping peacefully, before donning his black suit and going out a window. Something didn’t feel right and it was bothering him. On his short trek through the village he’d noticed a certain platinum blonde midget running amok, against his better judgment he decided to follow him.

The chase was only a few minutes and it brought him to the center of one of the furthest training grounds, where in the center the white wolf stood.

“Jimei,” the muffled voice behind the mask was rough but distinctly female, “Handle this.”

The woman waved a pale hand and a disturbing cackling followed. Seichi only had a moment before he came face to face with the little psychopath, wide frothing grin as his white in black dead eyes opened just enough to be seen.

For a second the young ANBU was stunned, caught on the sight of the amicable midget suddenly become a feral madman coming at him. It was only a second, and soon enough his training and instincts kicked in, the subtle young man’s face becoming stern as he grabbed a knife from one shoulder and a syringe from his belt pouch. These were the weapons of his trade and he’d show the white wolf everything he could do.

Jimei landed with a laugh, his hand in wide claw like style, slamming into the ground where the red haired ANBU was standing, causing a decently sized crater to spider web and crack out from under them. He crouched as he landed, left hand reaching across him to grab the handle of his worn katana, drawing it in a horizontal slice right where the medic should have landed…

Instead the taller man’s knife hand caught the blade in its path, catching it in the guard as his other hand came down and shoved a needle deeply into the platinum blonde’s shoulder, expertly pressing down the plunger and pumping the raving lunatic full of a serious anesthetic.

The midget’s response was to laugh and charge him in the gut, using his chakra to add weight to the stone rings on his arms to literally plow the larger _boy_ off his feet, jerking the knife out of his hand and sitting on his chest, beginning to whale on him in a frantic fury. Laughing the whole time.

There was nothing elegant or masterful about the way Jimei fought, it was brutal, barbaric and insane. It was the very reason ‘Kemui’ Satsuki had reclaimed him from R&D. she doubted the lunatic remembered anything but he was the only other member of the shocktroops to survive the Uzu war and by gaining Jounin status she had enough influence to take him out of the hands of Kumo’s scientists. He was a good weapon, that was all, she had fought with him at her side during the war and knew how he worked, it had nothing to do with nostalgia. He was just something else she could use to help protect her Lord.

This new ANBU, a boy a few years her junior, with red hair and eyes…

She had noticed him immediately, likely before he noticed her and began his tracking. He wasn’t terribly awful at stealth, like some other ‘challengers’ that had come after her for the Raikage’s offhand bounty. The large Oni hadn’t been serious when he’d threatened her, he didn’t even notice her most of the time, just found her annoying as she was someone that obviously would support his son when the time came. Now the other… _assassins_ that worked for the current Raikage, _they_ would see her as a threat. It was likely _they_ were the ones to start the rumor of the Raikage’s benevolence to anyone that beat her, bonus for killing her, and not the man himself. If the Third Raikage wanted you dead he did it himself, plain and simple, it wasn’t his style to beat around the bush and have others come after you for some bounty.

But it gave her… _interesting_ challengers, and helped clean up Kumo’s ANBU of idiots that didn’t deserve their masks. It also gave Jimei a good way to vent his compounding insanity… the man wouldn’t last much longer she knew, but at least his last few years were ‘free’.

Passively the denounced assassin watched as the red haired boy held his own against Jimei’s sporadic and barbaric style. The small man could be quite vicious and creative in a fight, even without his eyes, using some old techniques from when he was part of Iwa. It was surprising, to be honest, the different ways he could use his manipulation of weight to beat his opponents; making the bands on his wrists heavier when hitting or lighter while pulling away, adding to the momentum and keeping the brutality going. He was frothing at the mouth now, likely nearing the end of this match.

The medic had shown promise, dishing out any number of drug concoctions on the psychopath while keeping his old katana at bay. Part of the white woman wondered if the boy knew how to use a sword, by his reactions and stances, he’d likely be good with one…

There was a squishy sound as the medic grabbed the lunatic’s katana with his bare hand. The wolf masked woman seemed to perk with interest at this while the psycho’s dead eyes widened just the slightest.

Seichi didn’t stop there, grappling the smaller man’s other arm under his own and holding it to his body he reached out and gripped the small, flailing man by the neck and distinctly holding _exactly_ where the man’s arteries were. It wasn’t quite a sleeper hold but it would have a similar effect.

Jimei, of course, just kept laughing, coughing up blood as the young man’s large hand gripped tighter as raw desperate fury played across his dark face.

In a last attempt to get the little psycho to shut up, Seichi gripped his katana hand, twisted the wrist and held it in a position similar to the other, under his arm and held against his chest, while gripping the laughing lunatic around the throat with both hands. If Jimei was trying to kick him neither seemed to notice as the short platinum blonde’s legs couldn’t reach back and gain the momentum to do any manner of damage. He was grappled into a solitary spot… and he just kept laughing.

That was when out of nowhere the red head headbutt him. Not a toss, not a bop, no he full-on slammed the short man forehead to forehead and likely sent the midget’s brain into the back of his skull. Immediately the laughing stopped and a second later the former shocktroop was unceremoniously dropped into a heap on the ground.

Panting and wheezing Seichi dropped to one knee. His arms were cut up from the katana, his right hand particularly, and there was blood dripping down his face from a skin abrasion and slight concussion from that last hit. He had no idea fighting someone like that could be so draining, it was as if he’d been on a week long mission in enemy territory scrunched up to a short ten minute brawl. His heart was still pounding and the sense of danger never left but at least he could say he beat that psychopath.

“Hm,” there was suddenly a voice above him and he had only a moment to glance up and see the white wolf mask before a familiar bite from an edged weapon cut into his throat, “And you were doing so well…”

Red eyes widened and his pupils constricted as his mouth fell open. He was going to die, that quickly, no fight, no change, just a knife at his neck…

Who was going to take care of Xiao-chan now?

There must have been something in his eyes that intrigued the white wolf as her mask tilted slightly to the side. 

In the next second there was a spin kick and he was thrown against a rock far away, slamming hard against it as he could feel the sting of a shallow cut right below his jawline.

“It seems you are lucky,” through bleary red eyes the young Utsurabon watched as the white wolf flicked her blade, a single drop of blood hitting the ground, before sheathing it. She seemed to glance at her partner a moment before turning those line eyes back at him, “You belong to me now, understood?”

Even in his worn out state and likely concussion, the red head nodded.

“Good,” her voice seemed… lighter, not as harsh as it was when she’d first spoke behind her mask, “Your task is to take care of this man,” the white wolf mask tilted to the unconscious lunatic, “You have formidable medical abilities, they will be used to maintain his sanity.” She didn’t even wait for his confirming nod before turning away, likely finding their ‘business’ concluded, “And should that fail,” the words lilted over her shoulder, “You shall be his executioner.”

“Y-yes… commander…” those were the last words he spoke before a numbing blackness took hold.


	13. So in Another Life...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A different story, after a different turn of events...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Non-canon - alternate take of what-if Uenkai hadn't died... turns out too close to 'canon' for my tastes, i love you man, but you gotta go...

In another life…

In another life a young man did not die during a Kiri ambush. In this time he survived and his partner managed to get him out of there without having to suffer the great rage and pain from his loss. He healed up in time for them to participate in the Chuunin exams in Suna, the same time a group of Konoha genin were receiving their headbands. In this timeline the pair won the tournament, much to the chagrin of their comrade who in a different time would have won. She swore vengeance on the teal haired boy and the two have been in a ‘heated’ rivalry ever since, much to a certain blind girl’s amusement.

From here things followed along the original time, where Kumo did not get involved in a plot to destroy Konoha from Suna and Oto. The Raikage lamenting the lost opportunity to beat the ‘pussy tree huggers’. Kumo did not get involved in any of the future events as they were far enough away from their boarders for them to not quite care. The Last Assassin kept tabs though of what was going on.

The next time something major happened to draw Kumo into the lime light was when Akatsuki revealed itself in its attempts to capture the Nibi. Due to the efforts of the  Chuunin pair the container was salvaged but the demon itself was removed, Yugito only surviving thanks to a great sacrifice from Yorihi’s own demon cat but her injuries kept her sidelined. Because of this the other Kumo Jinchuuriki Killer Bee went into seclusion to train harder, determined to pay those bastards back for what they did to his comrade.

Enraged by the attempt on his brother’s life next, the Raikage called the Five Kage Summit, having his daughter and her partner, now jounin, be his guard. On their way to the summit the three Kumo-nin encountered a group from Konoha, a blonde boy begging for the life of his teammate, the one that had tried to kill the Raikage’s brother Killer Bee. The Raikage’s anger was palpable, but it was Yorihi who responded to Naruto’s plea for Uchiha Sasuke’s life, calling the infuriating blonde a coward and several rather unladylike things. Her partner Uenkai just laughed as they turned back to their journey, commenting at her unusually high hostility towards the boy, he was after all from Konoha, they were known to be meek by Kumo’s standards.

During the summit Yorihi acted as Kumo’s sensor, taking in their surroundings and measuring everyone involved. She gets angry during the meeting, calling Kiri out on its bullshit only to have Ao call her out on her own. Furious she pulls off her headband and reveals her eyes to the Kage, not giving a damn anymore, as both she and Ao actually use the opportunity to attack Danzo, both having noticed his subtle manipulations of Mifune. Danzo’s Ne operatives try to kill Yorihi specifically, realizing who and what she was, but the conflict is quickly halted with the arrival of Uchiha Sasuke, whom the Raikage challenges to avenge his brother. By the end of the conflict Sasuke escapes, along with Danzo, the Raikage is named leader of the new joint army and Yorihi is angry at her father for doing something as stupid as losing an arm. When the three return home both the Raikage and his daughter receive _GREAT_ reprimands from the Last Assassin, one for losing a limb unnecessarily, the other for revealing her eyes, and _BOTH_ of them for letting their tempers get away from them. Uenkai sympathizes with the woman, having spent a number of years working with her ‘daughter’.

By the end of it Yorihi’s more annoyed at her father than anything as the now one-armed-bandit was milking his condition to run off and dump all his work onto her. If anyone commented it was usually a laugh and comment about how it was all _great_ training for the future Raikage.

\-----

A stack of huge file folders slump onto his desk and the young man of 20 glances up them to find those annoyed tattooed eyebrows over still white eyes.

Yorihi was scowling down at him, it was funny to watch as expressions played out on her face so strangely. At a young age she’d been taught to never show anything, then raised by a man that expressed everything and a woman who you could only tell if you looked close enough. She inherited from both of them, wide open smiles and demon grins on the battlefield or with friends but when she was irritated, annoyed, or any kind of negative emotion it was all a muted blank wall with only little slips around her mouth and eyebrows. The bright cyan tattoos above her dark blue brows honestly gave more away about how she was feeling on a subject than if she told you flat out. He blamed her cat for that as well as the fact she’d hidden her eyes her whole life until about a month ago, taking after her father in a huge grandiose spectacle when that one-eyed Kiri-nin called her out on her bullshit.

She never liked Kiri-nin, ever since that one episode where he’d almost died, she never liked them. He couldn’t blame her, he felt the same about Iwa-nin after his first partner.

It was still strange, getting used to the fact he could see her eyes now. Six years they’d worked together and while he’d caught the scars more often than not, he’d never seen the pale pupil-less, motionless eyes before that day at the Kage Summit. At first he thought that just proved she was blind, aren’t blind people’s eyes white? When the Kiri-nin showed a similar, if far more mobile pale pupil-less eye he knew that wasn’t it. Six years and he never knew she could see, not just ‘good’ but 360 degrees around her, perfectly, at all times, and if she wanted she could look through things from miles away.

Uenkai thought the Genjutsu Master at the Academy worded everyone’s response best:

“ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME?! ALL THAT TIME I WASTED FIGURING OUT HOW TO DO MY CRAFT AROUND YOU!!! THINKING YOU WERE FUCKING IT UP AND YOU HAD IT DOWN THE WHOLE TIME!!” all the while screaming and throwing papers around.

Most people just laughed, especially those close to her that knew her best. Many still treated her the same, like she was blind and the young woman seemed grateful for it. He knew from working with her for so long the only reason she’d done it was to throw everyone in the room off, she was like her father in that regard, always had to make a big show.

But somethings had changed, she didn’t hide her eyes or her scars anymore and she didn’t bother asking about colors or omitting such details in descriptions. She told him after the events at the Kage Summit that all the abilities she claimed to have were real. She could feel color, smell fear, read with her fingers, etc. in her mind there was no point lying about those, so she strove to come up with new abilities to compensate for her ‘lost eyes’. Even now, with them revealed she still felt they were her most limiting aspect. Where before people thought she was blind making assumptions about her style and knowledge they were only going to be making similar assumptions about her eyes, and she already had the best defenses for being blind.

He thought it was cute she thought she could bullshit him and make her blunder sound genius. He knew for a fact she’d just gotten frustrated and exploded on the guy, the fallout being her damaged pride and exposing her eyes. But she was a Kumo-nin, they laughed with their pride, showing their weakness on their sleeves… even if they didn’t have any.

Finally pushing the amused thoughts aside and smirking up at her, Uenkai acknowledged her frustration and obvious coming here to vent, “What’s bothering you Yori-chan?”

Her tattooed brows lowered at the informal name but she didn’t seem in the mood to comment on it, “I’m going to kill my father…”

“Already?” a teal brow rose on the young man’s face. He knew, in serious terms, this was a delicate subject. It had taken his partner years to come to grips with the fact that some time in the future, likely soon, she’d have to kill her father and ascend the throne of Kumo. At first she had ignored the claim, dismissing it as something she never wanted. Uenkai now knew there was more to it than that.

He was probably the only person she could talk to about this subject after her reveal that didn’t already know and basically raised her since she was a kid. Uenkai was her partner so she trusted him with the full ‘real’ story. How she hadn’t lied to him before, just left a lot of things out. Her mother had died when she was young, not long after she couldn’t ‘see’ anymore and was taken into the care of her father and teacher. That’s what she’d told him and it was true. What she hadn’t said long ago was that she was born ‘Hyuuga Hinata’, a name that both haunted her and meant nothing to her. She had been kidnapped on her third birthday to Kumo and by some whim of fate the Raikage adopted her and stuck to it.

She wasn’t of the Oni blood of Kumo, she wasn’t secretly an Assassin like Kemui or Reki’s biological granddaughter. All the family around her she’d made up in her head as a kid to try and keep the life she had here. The adults just indulged her in that.

When they’d first met he’d threatened her father, verbally and she’d reacted violently to the potential loss. She’d never actually considered the throne of Kumo for herself as in her mind that’s where the man she called father sat. But as she got older it was obvious the others of Kumo accepted her as the Raikage’s child and a bloody history with a bloody tradition threatened all she’d made. It took his encouragement, and maybe _A LOT_ of booze, for her to accept no one was holding it against her, any of it.

They were Kumo, the natural order had been for generations the Leader, be they bandit, monk or Raikage, died in combat at the hands of their child, earning the right to wear the proverbial crown. Everyone in Kumo saw her as their Princess, their next Leader, someone strong with for once a good head on their shoulders and a half-way decent poker face. They’d long forgiven her of a sin she’d yet to commit and didn’t care about her origin.

Yorihi had sad it often enough to others that joined them but it seemed she was the one that most desperately needed to hear it that night, _“You’re Kumo, that’s all that matters…_ ” and while that’d been enough to quell the young woman’s thoughts at the time, the teal haired man could tell that wasn’t the case today.

A smug grin passed over the young man’s dark features as he continued, “And here I’d thought you’d wait awhile, let the old man get his fighting strength back?”

She shoved him indignantly and he couldn’t help but laugh at her response, “That’s not what I mean and you know it!!”

Uenkai kept that shit-eating grin in place as he held out his hands indifferently, “Of course, of course,” he leaned forward on the desk, nodding to the stack in front of him, “You’re just pissed he’s still having you basically doing his job, huh?”

The pale girl groaned, crossing her arms under her ample chest and sitting down roughly in the chair across from him.

A smirk rose on his face as he remembered his rival, Gakushin Mei’s response to the news her weird little cousin was not only not blind but in no way directly related to her:

“NO FREAKIN’ WONDER YOU HAVE SUCH GODDAMN UNWIELDLY WEAPONS!!”

Mei had been referring to Yorihi’s large breasts. He knew Samui, Karui and Omoi’s senpai and occasional team leader, that woman had large breasts for someone of Kumo heritage and they still paled in comparison to his partner’s ‘weapons’. For whatever reason Mei had pulled out a picture of the current Godaime Hokage and set it up next to Yorihi. He hated to admit it, but there _WAS_ a distinct resemblance, at least in THAT aspect. Mei hadn’t cared the younger girl had been lying the whole time about being blind or that Mei’s own mother had orchestrated such a farce, she was just glad to finally understand why her little cousin had beaten her in that aspect since the tender age of 10, _“Konoha genes, of course…”_

In Uenkai’s opinion he knew his younger partner was ‘hot and all’ but he preferred ‘weapons’ quite a bit less unwieldy. Maybe that was why they never dated. He knew their friends joked a lot about how he was the ‘hot older guy’ an she was the ‘younger bombshell’ and how since they spent so much time together they MUST have dated…

The truth was it never really crossed either’s mind. He remembered a time when she’d gotten older, more obviously womanly and he’d got done with a growth spurt, she’d asked plainly if he thought she was attractive.

If he knew then what he knew now he may have answered differently, but at the time he just stared at her like she’d grown another head, utterly confused. She’d gotten angry and shoved him like normal, he’d laughed and things returned to what they were used to.

Staring at her now, all frustrated, big breasted, and obviously all grown up, he couldn’t help but laugh.

She glared at him, more with her eyebrows than anything else, “What?”

He managed to tone down his chuckle as he scratched his chin beard, “Just had a funny thought,” his smirk spread and her tattooed brow rose, demanding he finish, “Was thinking about why we never dated?”

“Ew,” the look of uncontrolled bafflement and disgust that came over her face was all the more hilarious due to her blank white eyes, “Seriously? We work together too much for that to be possible…”

Again with that completely non-serious chuckle. He completely agreed of course, but where was the fun in telling her that, “You HAVE met Xiao and Oku right?” she snorted in annoyance and his grin grew, “Just sayin’, there’s enough UST between those two I’m surprised they’re not married yet…”

“And people call me blind,” there was just something special about the Raikage’s daughter’s sense of humor, “I’ll bet Xiao drugs him, gets knocked up and has the kid before they even think about it…”

Uenkai chuckled, “And here I thought it was the other way around,” The mocking glare she sent him was hilarious but he wave it off, “Watch, they’re already secretly married with a family and just like the rest of us being in the dark about it all…”

“I wonder if Seichi-san knows,” she ran a pale finger under her chin in thought, “Probably should ask him next time he’s around…”

Uenkai just smirked. He knew a normal person would just say ‘next time I see him’ but despite the reveal of her eyes his partner still went out of her way verbally to discount her visual acuity. He just watched her a second, knowing she could see him, “Well that still doesn’t answer my question, from what I can tell they’re situation is kinda the norm…”

Again the oh-so-dignified woman snorted, “Don’t tell me you buy into that whole breeding program theory?”

That had the older man laugh, “Oh I would totally not put it past R&D and you know it!”

Despite herself a smirk did pick at Yorihi’s mouth, “Okay, I’ll give you that,” she leaned back in the chair, putting her feet up on his desk, arms still crossed under her ample bosom, and ‘brow’ glared him down her form, “I still think us dating is a terrible idea.”

An honest grin form the teal haired man, “I agree, I’m just curious to your reasoning?” he’d give her the truth. It’d been a funny thought and it made for an amusing conversation. Plus he got to see her squirm and that was worth it enough.

The younger girl shrugged, on anyone else it would have been nonchalant but Uenkai had spent six years working with the woman, that shrug meant she was uncomfortable, “It just… sounds… weird?” her brows and lips grimaced, “You’re my partner, we’ve risked our lives together, hell we’ve seen each other naked and broken,” one of her hands went up in silent defeat, “if anything, we know each other TOO well to be anything other than partners…” her hands lowered as she faced him, something about the way her brows set and the fact she was putting in the effort to ‘look’ at him directly told him she was being extremely serious, asking more then what she was saying, “Right?”

He realized she wasn’t just asking him, she wanted confirmation, assurance he felt the same. They were partners, they were as close as anyone could get but as much as that was neither could muster romantic feelings for the other. He loved her, he’d admit that because he knew he cared for her and would both kill and die for the little arrogant girl that had watched his back this long. But he could not, would not LOVE her in a romantic sense. He had loved his last partner like that he realized, but not Yorihi. She was his friend, confidant, perpetual annoyance and partner, but for whatever reason he could not see her the same as Sasayaki, could not see her as a lover.

He gave a small grin, hoping she could see all his feelings on his face, “I love you, Yorihi,” the stricken look that came over her face at his admission made him bust out laughing, “But sorry to say, I don’t think I could ever be IN love with you, haha!!”

The dark haired girl gave a grateful sigh and slumped into her chair, “Oh thank god,” she rubbed at her temple, cuing he was giving her a headache, “I _DID **NOT**_ want to have to pay Karui for that bet…”

Gone was the chuckle as he glared at her, “You bet against me?”

The devilish grin he knew her father was proud of spread across her face, “Not me…” her brows made that motion they’d all grown accustom to attributing to her rolling her eyes, it was strange to see they didn’t actually move, “Just… Xiao and Karui… I may have overheard a bet of theirs…”

Uenkai glared at her, honestly nothing to say.

“Heh,” she gave him an honest smile, “Not to diminish your… not-confession,” that garnered a snort from both of them, “But… yea,” she looked thoughtful as her smile grew, “I feel the same,” suddenly her brows glared as she leaned forward, “I’m not going to say ‘I love you’ but…” she punched him in the arm ridiculously hard and smirked as he winced, “I feel the same, you’re important to me, as a friend, as my partner, but sorry,” she waved her hands up vigorously, “The idea of dating or love-loving you honestly kind of creeps me out…”

That drew a boisterous laugh from the large man, “So glad we feel the same…”

Yorihi just smirked, leaning back in her chair, “So, that answer your ‘funny thought’?”

He smirked at her raised brow, “More than I thought,” that smirk grew as the younger woman looked suspicious, “But do you feel better now about whatever caused you to barge in to my office and attack my desk with two inch thick binders?”

The girl blinked. She _ACTUALLY_ blinked, turned to the stack she’d brought in, to him and back before busting out a boisterous laugh worthy of her father, “Y-you bastard!! HAHA!!”

Uenkai just spread his hands as if innocent, “What are best friends for?”

“Ugh,” Yorihi stood, running a hand through her bangs staring off at nothing, “I needed that,” she turned towards him with her hands on her hips looking rather serious, like normal, “I have to go deal with a delegation from Konoha and I swear my father’s doing it just to piss me off…”

A teal brow rose, “Oh? He wants to show off how he made a bigger, badder and better Hyuuga again?”

She made a swap for his head, “Don’t even joke like that!” her brows were glaring again and the older man couldn’t help but laugh. Yorihi just scowled, giving him a moment to calm down, “And for your information it’s a party of the Godaime Hokage and apparently her potential candidates for next Hokage,” she seemed to loosen up some, “And from what I’ve been told they’re bringing their Jinchuuriki as well, to be trained under Oji-chan…”

Teal brows went up as similar colored eyes slyly watched his partner. He knew if she _EVER_ looked relaxed it was because she was about to let loose hell. He was going to enjoy this, “It’s that blond punk we met on the road right? The guy askin’ your dad for mercy and Karui wouldn’t shut up about?”

She crossed her arms and narrowed her features. It was all the confirmation he needed.

Uenkai laughed, he didn’t know what it was but that blonde punk got under his partner’s skin something fierce, so bad that after that meeting she’d been grumbling to herself the whole way to Iron in a manner only her cat could understand.

“Oh shut up!” she turned around in a huff, heading towards the door grumbling to herself.

“Haha, oh c’mon Yori-chan,” he stood, reaching over the desk and grabbing her hand, smiling at her flawlessly as she glared back at him with her brows, “Its funny, admit it,” the younger woman yanked her arm back but at least she was standing there glaring at him. Uenkai just leaned over his desk with that shit-eating grin, “That guy got under your skin and you said some pretty harsh things to him, even your dad was impressed, and now you gotta be nice and civil to him with a crowd of other high ranking members from his village?” the teal haired man had to stand up straight and hold his stomach as he started laughing again.

Yorihi just sent him a glaring pout, it made her look cute but deadly at the same time, “Damnit Uenkai it’s not funny!” a swift punch to his shoulder did nothing to dissuade her partner’s jovial laughter. Again the Raikage’s daughter grumbled to herself, turning back to the door and the pout not leaving her face, “My father is doing this on purpose to piss me off…”

It took a moment but Uenkai finally got his laugh down to a decent chuckle, “You know that’s not true,” when she turned to pout-glare at him he smiled at her honestly, “He trusts you to give the best representation of this village, strong, proud with some decorum,” he nodded his head towards the door, “I know you’re going to do fine, even if that whinny punk is there,” a teal eye winked at her causing her to scowl, “Sides, just show him up the best way I know you can right?”

“Tch,” she turned back to the door and rolled her shoulder in a way he knew meant she was rolling her eyes as well, “Yea, of course I will,” she turned back with an earnest smile, “Got any advice, oh great wise one?”

Uenkai smirked, taking a thinker’s pose and rubbing his chin beard, “Hmm…” he eyed her up and down, taking in her outfit that did little to hide her adult figure and the number of obvious weapons she carried. A devious smirk grew on his face as he faced his partner, “Nah, I think you got this covered on your own,” he crossed his arms as his smirk evolved into a full-blown grin. If anything she was going to knock them all dead with her looks and she was good enough in a social situation to be polite in the right amounts to be respectful to those that deserved it and able to put down those that didn’t. She was going to be a deadly Raikage one day and he was happy to say he’d be right there to help her every step of the way.

“Heh,” she reached out and gave him a light punch in the shoulder, it still hurt as it was in the same place as the previous ones but he knew this was her way of thanking him, “Guess I have to go face the storm huh?”

“Yep,” teal eyes smirked at her and he knew she could see it even if she wasn’t looking at him.

There was a long sigh as the younger woman stood in front of the door that left his small office, hands on her hips as she nodded her head ready to go face this new challenge.

… then she turned on her heel and stared at him sternly, “Oh yea,” she pulled out a piece of paper and walked the few steps to shove it in his hand, “Almost forgot, Mei-chan’s challenging you again…”

A sour look came over the older man’s face as he unfurled the crumpled up piece of paper reading its rather straight forward message of challenge, “Ugh, what’d I do now?”

Yorihi just smirk, patting him on the shoulder, “My advice,” there was something wicked about the look on her face that reminded him of her damn cat, “Show up with dinner…”

“To poison her?” teal eyes flatly glared at his partner as she kept that evil smirk up. He balled up the challenge and threw it haphazardly on his desk. Of all the damn things, he beat Gakushin Mei in that chuunin exams years ago and she _still_ wouldn’t let it go.

Yorihi just shook her head, patting him on the shoulder sympathetically, “Dinner, no poison,” another sympathy pat, “You might be surprised…” and a smirk as she headed towards the door.

Glaring at her back and knowing full-well she could see it, Uenkai dropped back into his chair and watched his partner leave.

… but not before throwing out one last barb, “So this mean you’re buying that punk dinner too?”

The way she nearly fell and hit her face on the floor was priceless and he knew he’d gotten her. she didn’t bother looking back at him but he could tell by how ridged her shoulders were and how she was stomping away she was glaring at him and likely blushing down the hall, cursing his name all the while.

Uenkai couldn’t help but chuckle, his eyes traveling from the way his partner left to the balled up piece of paper on his desk. With a lazy smirk he picked it up and unraveled it to read again, “Well, maybe it’s worth a try,” momentarily his eyes traveled to the door again, smirk growing, “You arrogant little brat.”

\-----

In another life things took a different turn, in this one the young man had a chance to enjoy it to the fullest with the help of his closest friend.


	14. While you were away~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haku writes Yorihi a letter while she's in Konoha...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon (far as i can tell) - Takes place during the Chuunin Exams, just a random little note~

While you were away…

While Yorihi and Team Yugito were away at the Chuunin Exams in Konoha, Haku sent her a letter, it consisted of the following:

Dear Yorihi-hime,

I hope this letter gets to you appropriately and since I’m sure Konoha authorities are going to read it I will refrain from mentioning anything classified, not that I’m involved in anything classified at the moment. Its been about a month since you left with Xiao-chan and Oku-kun to attend the Konoha Chuunin Exams, I hope they have gone well so far. I’m writing this letter to inform you of several things that have happened while you were away. Part of this is because I feel it is my duty as a new genin of Kumo to keep you up-to-date, also my master may not admit it but I’m sure she and her son would love to tell you as well, so as a good subordinate I’m doing it for them.

I’d like to start with my appointment to genin status, as I mentioned it already. The day after you left I decided to finally speak with that desk clerk, your grandmother she said, about making my joining Kumo official. She seemed to laugh in my face for some reason and hand me several forms, explaining that since I was previously trained by a missing-nin and had obvious experience I could be tested by the Masters personally to evaluate my readiness to take the genin test. Your father and my master both gave recommendations along with some others I don’t though I get the feeling they know you, but those allowed me to take the evaluation tests.

I studied very hard on any subjects I could get a hold of, Sutego-kun is very knowledgeable for someone of his age and helped me immensely. He told me he used to watch you and your friends studying such subjects while you were in the Academy and decided to learn them himself. Most of the subject matter I already know how to use practically thanks to my previous training but the time spent refreshing with him I feel helped me prepare immensely, at least to not be nervous about it. When the day came I had to leave Sutego-kun with your grandmother, as she was the only person I knew who was related to you and available. She glared at me very hatefully, I don’t think she likes me very much, but that would not get me down as Sutego-kun told me: “Do great Aniki!!” I don’t know what I’ve done, and I’m sure his mother has explained our situation, but I can’t seem to bring myself to tell him to stop calling me that. As far as he’s concerned you’re his big sister and I’m his big brother now.

As I was saying, the evaluations. It consisted of three tests, one from each of the Masters and were mainly one-on-one combat.

I met with Kurogami Ruri first. The woman is very tall, very muscular, and very intimidating with her tattoos and tattered clothing. In some respects she reminded me greatly of my former master when he was very angry or enjoying a kill. We met on one of the lower bridges, small enough that it would allow only one person to cross at a time and began a taijutsu/kenjutsu spar. I have to admit, I’ve fought many times but I’ve never fought someone like her in both hand-to-hand combat or with weapons. For all her size and muscle she is very delicate, balanced, and light on her feet, able to balance off of a single toe on one of the chains on the edge of the bridge and easily compensated for the movement and weather. Her weapons varied as much as her hand styles, switching from one to another mid-attack depending on the situation. I’m ashamed to say that at one point she managed to disarm me but the way she used that sword was beautiful. My former master was trained with that blade and never moved with it so fluidly, so gracefully. It was only a few moments but it was an amazing thing to see. After a while she finally landed a hard kick to my head that sent me tumbling off the bridge, she did not attempt to catch me and I honestly don’t think I expected her to. With was as easy as summoning a mirror to catch myself and as I exited it, sword ready and willing to strike, she simply put her hands down and gave me this strangely kind smile. In that moment I forgot how imposing and fierce she appeared to me at first as I got to see the sincere kindness she hid behind her tattoos and strength. She told me I passed and to head over to my next test.

My second test was against Kitearu Kuri. This man was also very tall, but wide and while I know he is as muscular as Ruri-sensei he’s chubby. He has a stern air about him and the way he looks at you always seems both analyzing and unimpressed. Fighting him I was forced to use much more of my Ninjutsu then in my previous battle as he kept me at a distance with his wide array of earth techniques, but even up-close the man is not to be trifled with. I had been told he and Ruri were former partners and even as Masters trained together regularly, I could see it in the way he fought, his moves were deliberate, solid and hard, obviously a way of defending he’d developed facing Ruri-sensei’s much more dynamic fluid style of close-quarters combat. It was interesting to fight the man, despite my abilities I have to say I’ve never gone all out in a full ninjutsu battle, usually I am able to disable an opponent with either my senbon or mirrors quick enough, but this kind of wide scale battle is intriguing. Suffice it to say I think that training ground was completely rearranged and there may still be a few ice crystals by the time you get back. Though, yet again, after a significant battle I was eventually defeated as Kuri-sensei literally threw me off the plateau with a quick eruption of earth. Again, it was a simply matter of my mirrors that brought me back to stable ground and again despite my willingness to keep fighting I was met with the large man putting his hands behind his back, giving me that strange analyzing gaze and telling me I had passed and to go on to the final test.

As you’ve probably guessed my final test was against Hakumei Moe. I have to say this was a strange one, not just the test but the woman herself. As far as I am aware Moe-sensei is actually the eldest of the three current Masters yet despite that she looks like someone stuck between the ages of twelve and fourteen. She smiles openly, has a bubbly effervescent personality, mixed with that adorable look and its no wonder she can easily disarm someone with just a touch of charm. Being myself I am well aware of this tactic. I am not actually quite sure if I impressed her or not as upon meeting her I was not fooled by her charming disposition, quick enough I saw the monster she hides with that kind smile and without a single word I was plunged into a nightmare. I can’t quite tell you what it was because I can’t fully remember, but it was nightmarish, like a terrible dream that feels real but you can’t wake up. I felt as if I were not in control of my body and terrible things were happening. My former master taught me a trick to deal with such realistic genjutsu, as they are dreamlike I simply had to put myself in a state of lucid dreaming, take control of the nightmare. My mind was already trained to inform me of such by creating a symbol only I would know that once I saw it I would know to ‘wake up’. This happened several times as there were several layers of the genjutsu, I have to admit I’ve never come across such a thing before. By the time I destroyed the final genjutsu I found myself standing on the edge of a balcony, about to step off. I stopped myself and turned around, spotting that terrifying woman giving an approving grin, stating I had also passed this test and was more than ready to take the genin exam.

Two days later I joined the genin attempting it and passed quite easily earning my headband. I have to say I never would have expected such a thing as a final test. Prior to that day I had never met most of the students and most of them were younger than me by a number of years but I remembered some things you told me, as well as my current master and her son, so unlike the others I spent most of my time during the test keeping others afloat. I actually managed to cover the entire basin top with ice, making a veritable frozen lake for the ‘army’ of genin to attack the Masters head on with full force, it was an impressive sight and I don’t think they expected such from me, I know I didn’t to be honest. They eventually broke it with a combination of Ruri’s strength and Kuri’s earth putting us all back into the position of saving ourselves, but that didn’t stop me from trying and saving other genin hopefuls. By the end of it, after Kuri-sensei collapsed the entire construct, a number of the new genin looked up to me as their senior. Sadly I haven’t had the heart to correct those that call me ‘Nee-chan’, but I’m okay with senpai.

I was told by the Masters due to my previous training it is entirely unnecessary for me to be put on a single team paired up with someone under a single sensei. I’m currently being used as a freelance where needed and that I’m already signed up to take the next Chuunin exams.

Sutego-kun and Master have congratulated me immensely, even your father, though I feel little accomplishment in this. Yes, I am pleased to have attained a real rank but I also feel I’ve done little more than show my battle prowess, and even then I feel like I have much more to show, after all I didn’t really need to use my sword.

I will keep training and help out where I can while you’re gone. I have a number of subordinates now, unofficially of course, genin from the test that look up to me and I don’t mind helping them in any way I can. I feel this is something I quite like, teaching and looking out for those lower in ability then myself, I think if I pass the next exams I may apply to the Academy or another teaching post but if my skills are needed elsewhere I see no reason to turn it down.

I hope to hear favorable news upon your return, train well my friend, Xiao-chan and Oku-kun as well.

Sincerely,

Haku

Ps: Sutego-kun says hi!

Pps: So does your father…

Ppps: … and grandmother…

Pppps: in fact it might just be easier to say the entire village sends their regards.


	15. Better Believe it, Dattebayou!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto expresses his desire to be Hokage, Katsuri has a few things to say about that...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon - takes place during the Konoha Infiltration, this is one of the reasons WYCH-Naruto is a bit different from canon-Naruto...

One day Ryougi Katsuri overhears Uzumaki Naruto shouting about how he wants to be the Hokage and asks him the fundamental question of ‘why?’.

He gives her his usual answer: “So people will respect me!”

She looks at him weird, tilting her head with a raised brow, “Why do you want people to respect you Naruto-kun?”

He makes a face, stomping his short foot, “That way people gotta look at me, see me, not ignore me or treat me like dirt all the time!!”

Her brow raises higher, “Not everyone does…”

He just growls, “Yea, but that’s just you and Jiji, and the Hokage some times and the old man at the ramen shop…” he was counting the people he knew that didn’t treat him like automatic garbage on his one hand. That was really it, just four people he could think of… five if he counted that girl from the Ramen stand but she was mean sometimes though not like everyone else, probably because of her dad.

Katsuri nodded again but back tracked, “Alright, lets start with the Hokage,” she held up her hand, “Which one do you think is the best?”

“THE FOURTH!!” the boy had a bright grin on his face and raised his hands.

There was a _slight_ grimace on the woman’s face, not really something Naruto could read and anyone else would assume was about his loud voice, “Okay, why is the Fourth Hokage the best?”

Naruto brought his hands down in fists near his face, scrunching it up as he was obviously thinking, “C-cause he beat the… the Kyuubi?” it was funny how the boy said the word so low, not sure it was right or that he should be saying it out loud.

The white haired woman gave a small smile, nodding her head, “He did,” then she leaned down to his level and something shimmered in her eyes, “But is that the only thing he did? Is that the only thing he’s known for?”

Blonde brows furrowed, “I-I do-don’t understand Katsu-chan?”

The woman pursed her lips in a tight smile as she crouched to be at his level, crossing her arms around her waist, “The Fourth Hokage was famous long before he defeated the Kyuubi no Kitsune,” Katsuri said the beasts name with no malice and looked straight into Naruto’s eyes, it was such a strange action compared to how everyone else referred to the creature, especially around him. Her white brows rose in the center, showing sympathy for what she was about to say, “Do you know what his nickname was before he was the Fourth Hokage or why?” the blonde boy shook his head and it took everything she had to keep her lips from frowning, “He was known as the Yellow Flash, because it was said he had a technique that when used turned him into a yellow flash of light as he killed over a thousand shinobi alone in the war before he became Hokage…”

Blue eyes went wide and the boy’s mouth dropped open, “Th-that… that’s not…”

Katsuri hugged the boy instantly, frowning at his reaction, sad he didn’t know and probably didn’t fully understand, “The Hokage, along with all other Kage in the other villages are shinobi respected out of fear. Yes, they save lives, that of their own village, but at the drastic cost of another’s…” she held Naruto out at arm’s length, looking into his eyes with deep sympathy, “I don’t want to destroy your image of the man who is your hero but I also don’t want to lie to you. Yes, the man was great and powerful… but there are men like him in all the Villages, ruling to this day, feared by any outside their own for what they can and will do…”

“Tell me about them…” despite the catatonic look in the boy’s face he spoke those words direct and true, looking her in the eyes as if lost.

Again the white haired woman pursed her lips, looking at the boy with sympathy, “Well, from what I know the First and Second Hokage built this village, the first dying after a fight with his rival Uchiha Madara, who fought for days changing the landscape forging the Valley of the End. The second stabilized the village by repressing rebellions, instilling strict foreign policies and wiping out his enemies during times of war. The Third…” she paused, thinking of the kindly old man that had helped her, welcoming her into his village when she asked for asylum… but also remembering the stories she heard growing up.

“W-what about the old m-man?” the boy was practically fidgeting, not sure he wanted to hear the ‘truth’ about the old guy that talked to him kindly every so often.

Katsuri bit her lips before continuing, “He-he was responsible for wiping out the other villages in the land of Fire, establishing Konoha as the dominant one, and led Konoha forces in several battles and wars, burning the countryside and killing hundreds in wars…”

The small boy’s hands fidgeted, “J-just enemy sh-shinobi r-right?”

Grey eyes looked at the boy sympathetically before shaking her head in the negative, “I’m sorry Naruto-kun, but…” there was a deep long sigh, “War never spares anyone, not civilians and certainly not innocents…”

“LIAR!!” the boy jumped away from the woman, anger in his eyes along with sorrow, “the-the old man would never do that!! He’d never just-just…” he couldn’t even get the words out without scrunching up his face, “th-that… without… without…”

“Without reason?” the white haired woman said calmly, looking at the boy sympathetically, “There’s always a reason Naruto-kun, blanketed with protecting their village, from the lowest genin to the Kage, it…” the woman hung her head with a deep sigh before whispering, “it’s always the same…”

“Is…” the blonde boy slinked closer to the older woman, reaching out, so confused and not knowing what to do but wanting to wipe that sad look off his big sis’ face, “is that what being a shinobi’s about? J-just… hurting… a buncha people and g-getting famous about it?”

Katsuri raised her head and smiled tightly at the boy, “Is that what it is to you?”

Quickly a pout formed on his face and he looked at her with a fierce determination in his blue, “No,” he shook his head, “No, I… I wanna protect everyone… d-do what’s right so no one’s gotta hurt anymore… no more wars and fighting…”

The older woman smiled genuinely at the boy, putting her pale hand on his shoulder, “Is that what you really want?”

With a thuggish pout the blonde boy gave a firm nod.

Her smile grew slightly, “Then you’ll be a great shinobi, Hokage or not, you’ll protect your village and people…”

“Not just them…” the pout spread on his face as his voice got louder, looking at her  with those fierce determined eyes, “I dun care what those bastards did,” he waved his hand wildly, with anger, ironically over the Hokage monument in the distance, “They… they hurt a lot of people!! People that had nothing to do with nothing!!” he pumped his fists, “I wanna help everyone, from the jerks here that don’t care about me to the people in the land you come from!!” a wide foxy grin spread on his face, “They gotta know something if you know all this, so they gotta know a better way right?!”

Katsuri gave the small boy a sympathetic look, rubbing his head, “The Raikage aren’t men to mess with, strong and powerful, who rule with fear, I wouldn’t call what they do ‘better’ then here, but they don’t lie about what they’ve done or who they are…”

“Then I’ll kick their asses too!!” the boy threw out his fist, “I’ll beat them, and everyone else that doesn’t wanna get along, I’ll get so powerful I can beat everyone in the world!!”

“Beat everyone in the world, huh?” a wry white brow rose, “That sounds like a lot of work,” she poked the boy in the head, “And I don’t think killing the Kage would accomplish anything…”

Energetically Naruto shook his head, “No, Katsu-chan, I wanna beat ‘em, show I’m stronger, not kill ‘em… they…” he rubbed his head blushing, “They won’t learn nuthin’ if they’re gone, an’ no one that respects them would like me if I took ‘em away… ya know?”

Grey eyes blinked at the boy before she just stared at him, “So, you don’t want to be the Hokage anymore? Just someone strong enough that can beat the Kage when they get out of line? Teach them a lesson?”

“Well, yea!” the boy pumped his fists, proudly smiling, “If I’m strong enough, I can help everyone right? Even guys that wanna hurt me, I can just beat ‘em and keep beatin’ them till it sticks right?!”

Speechless the older woman just put her hand on the boy’s head and rubbed furiously, chuckling, “Then I guess you’ll just have to become the greatest shinobi ever, huh?”

The blonde seven year old nodded vigorously and pumped his fist, “Uh-huh!! You better believe it!! Dattebayou!!”


	16. For Who You Are...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in the Academy, Kuri got picked on a lot and Ruri was having none of that...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon - takes place when Ruri and Kuri are about 10

For who you are…

“You should get out of here fatty!!” a heavy fist accompanied the insult, landing right in the center of Kiteru Kuri’s face.

It hurt like hell. Not just the fist and the broken nose but the insult as well. They were given their physicals today at the Academy and like always he was the heaviest kid in class. He wasn’t even that much bigger than most, from his point of view, but some of the more active and taijustsu oriented boys used it as an excuse to bully him. He wasn’t fast, hell he was probably the slowest in class when it came to hand-to-hand combat and he tired out easily from, he hated to admit, carrying all his own weight around. He wasn’t soft, no kid in the Kumo Academy was ‘soft’ by any means, but he wasn’t as bulky or well-built as the others, his skill was he had a lot of chakra, probably from eating more than others some had joked, and he had a decent control so while they didn’t know it he could already mold a few ninjutsu quite well.

But that didn’t matte right now, as right now consisted of punches and kicks too fast for him to do anything about and his eyes not trained well enough to pick them up. He wasn’t experienced enough to mold chakra under these conditions and he was quite readily getting his ass kicked.

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!!” a shout from above caught all their attention as a shorter blonde girl dropped out of the sun’s path, fist cocked back and a seriously terrifying look in her small black eyes.

She looked like some kind of avenging angel coming down to smite from above, which was quite a feat he’d have to wonder about later since they _were_ on the roof of the Academy.

In the stunned silence that followed her fist connected with the first bully’s jaw and there was an audible crack as it broke, teeth went flying from his mouth along with blood. The blonde girl didn’t even waste time confirming the hit, dropping low and kicking the kid’s legs out from under him before angling up to meet him in the solar plexus with an elbow. She swung with unheard of momentum and sent the kid flying at the other four, who were distracted by what they saw, catching their boss, and missed her doing another flying leap, this time landing a corkscrew kick that sent another in the wall with another loud crack.

She shuffled to her feet, the eyes of a demon gazing at the last three who were scared out of their minds by what just happened still needing time to process it.

“Get out of here…” her harsh words snapped everyone out of their daze.

For a moment Kuri thought she was talking to him, without thinking he started scooting back, having every intention of letting her have her space to wipe the floor with these guys. She just took down the top in taijutsu and second in their class in three seconds flat, he knew when he had no chance.

“Not you,” her voice carried behind her to the chubby boy but her tiny black eyes stayed on the three surrounding her, one on the right, two on the left holding their unconscious boss, “Them,” tiny blonde brows lowered seriously under six dotted scars on her forehead as she looked from one to the next, “Take your comrades and get out of here, I don’t intend to beat all of you into unconsciousness, for if I have to…” one tan fist went into her open palm only to clinch and the sound of her knuckles cracking caused them all to jump, “I’m leaving your dead bodies out here for the carrion birds…”

The, hopefully, idle threat caused the bullies to all yelp, grab their two unconscious comrades and bolt off the Academy building, likely whining for teachers or their mothers.

Kuri gave a hard sniff, half his nose feeling clogged while the other half was swollen in pain. He wiped the blood out from under it as his thin eyes looked over his apparent savior, “You didn’t have to do that…”

The blonde girl turned around, gone was the look of a demon out for blood, instead replaced by a cute little smile the crinkled the sides of her black eyes, “Of course I did…”

Another useless sniff from the boy. Her name was Kurogami Ruri, she’d joined their first year three months late and proved to be a mostly quiet and studious young girl. She was modest in her words and actions, never drawing much attention to herself in class but always easily handing out her notes to those that asked. The only time Ruri showed any sign of a different temperament was in taijutsu class. In their first year she were shown different basic forms and had to practice them constantly. Like everyone else Ruri seemed average at best but never seemed bother by this standing, good or bad, win or lose, she always had a pleasant disposition and didn’t seem interested in showing any of her _real_ skill.

 _That_ came out in their second year, when some kid had made fun of Kuri for being the ‘fat kid’ in their class and the blonde suddenly developed a scowl that looked oddly similar to the Raikage. She’d merely stepped forward, challenged the boy like she hadn’t heard anything… and proceeded to utterly **_CRUSH_** him like a demon using a style none of them knew and definitely not taught at the Academy. Very few seemed to put the pieces together that she did that because she was angry at the boy’s comment about Kuri, but after today’s bout that might change in the future.

Looking at her she still had that calm, pleasant disposition, her tiny black eyes seeming bigger and cuter as she gave a small smile that made her dark face seem utterly adorable framed by her short pale blonde hair. Her proven deadly hands were held in front of her, deceptively demure, one of the other crossed over her long baggy dark dress. Kuri didn’t know if she wore anything else, but part of Ruri’s ‘modest’ charm, as some of the other kids in class liked to call it as a reason for liking her, was that she never seemed threatening. She wore this large dark brown almost black dress that literally covered everything from her chin to her ankles and wrists, it was obviously mobile enough to allow her to fight, as she just proved, but it seemed to distract from the fact she was capable of such.

And for some reason she never wore shoes…

Part of Kuri always wanted to ask her, as she seemed to like hanging around him for some odd reason, if she had a home or parents to take care of her. She wore cloths that weren’t flattering in any sense of the word and walked around without shoes like she didn’t have the money or support to get any, let alone realize she was supposed to wear them.

She was an odd girl… that was for sure.

Thin dark eyes opened as Kuri hadn’t realized he’d closed them in his wandering thoughts only to see Ruri’s black ones close to his face, looking at him rather intently.

Instead of freaking out or yelling or jumping away, Kuri just pursed his lips together and hoped his chubby cheeks didn’t burn off from how much he was sure he was blushing at the girl’s close proximity.

A look of concern passed over her face as her tiny blonde brows furrowed, “It looked like it might be broken, you should probably get it looked at…”

That was when he realized she was looking intently at his nose, out of concern as a classmate and nothing more. With a deep sniffle, as yes his nose was obviously swollen and not working all that well, he just shook his head lightly, “S’okay…” another attempted sniff as apparently it hurt to move too much, “I’ll get it… looked at later,” he winced, pain shooting though his head, “Hurts too much to move right now…”

“Okay…” her voice was soft and as Kuri closed his eyes he thought that would be the end of the conversation and their meeting, that she would, like most people in class, just move along and continue what they were doing before him getting his ass kicked, again, got them distracted.

So he was rather surprised when he felt her sit down, _right next to him and close enough that his bare arm was rubbing against her sleeve!_

Kuri felt that burning in his chubby cheeks again as his eyes flipped open and widened to nearly normal proportions as he glanced sideways to his left, catching that distinct pale blonde hair and noticing her sitting there, staring in front of her with her arms wrapped around her legs and her cute little chin resting on her knees.

It took him a long minute to calm down, and push down the sudden pain all the blood rushing to his face caused his swelling nose, before he could manage to get his words out, “Why are you here?” it wasn’t _exactly_ what he wanted to say nor how he wanted to word it as obviously that made him sound like a jerk and ah-

Those adorable black eyes just tuned to him, blinked, and she cocked her head slightly away, “To make sure you don’t pass out before you go to the nurse,” she nodded his way like it was obvious, referencing his nose, “You could have a concussion not just a broken nose and it would be bad if you lost consciousness…”

That was a strangely logical response. It caused Kuri to blink, which _slightly_ hurt, and just stare at her for a good couple of seconds, “How do you know all this…?”

If he didn’t know any better he’d have sworn a _light_ bit of color formed on her already dark tan cheeks before she glanced away, “They covered a lot of basic injuries in my training…”

“They?” that was worthy of a cocked dark brow from the chubby boy.

The girl’s arms came up a bit and it looked like she was trying to hide her face as she mumbled softly, “My parents…”

- _Well that answered that question…_ \- but raised so many more as Kuri just stared at her, not sue what to say to that, “Oh…”

An awkward silence passed between the two kids that Kuri was certain only he felt. Ruri was far too ‘calm’, for the lack of a better word, as she just sat there in her little ball and stared off at nothing next to him. While for him his mind was going in a million different directions at once, not sure which to take and what, if anything, he should say…

“Why were they picking on you?” of course his blonde companion saved him the trouble.

Finding his words Kuri stared off in front of him like she had been, in the direction of where he had been getting his ass handed to him and even noticed some blood on the ground not far away, “same reasons as usual…” he didn’t want to say it, he really didn’t and he was sure she was smart enough to know.

“As in…?” apparently she didn’t and didn’t seem to want to let it go. He wondered if she was looking at him but he didn’t have the guts to glance over himself.

Clinching a fist, Kuri raised his leg closest to her, setting his arm along it and held his fist tightly, feeling a frown pulling at his face. He didn’t want her to see him like this and he didn’t want to admit to her why they were picking on him, it was so obvious and saying it out loud seemed insulting.

… But she’d asked, and he couldn’t say ‘no’ to her, she was after all the kindest person in class to him, “Cause I’m fat, they pick on me,” his hand clinched more, “Cause I suck at taijutsu I’m easy to pick on…”

“So why not get better at it?” the tone in her voice was earnest and sincere and for a moment he didn’t believe it. Whipping around in anger he expected to yell at her for mocking him, instead he was stopped dead in his tracks seeing just her open and honest gaze at him. He must have been staring for a long time as she seemed to blink, slightly embarrassed and ask, “W-what?”

He blinked again himself, snapping out of it and pushing aside the immediate anger, “N-nothing,” he was pouting again and he knew she must have been looking at him weird as he looked away to stare at the ground, “Its not that simple, I’m no good fighting hand-to-hand…”

“I could teach you,” again she continued to surprise him.

Kuri whipped around for the second time in as many minutes to stare at her in disbelief, “W-what?”

“I could teach you,” her head tilted to the side honestly, “The style they teach here isn’t good for someone of your body type, it’s meant to be a fast and strong basic fighting stance good for beginners with a light to moderate build, so good for people like them,” she nodded her head referencing the cracks in the wall and floor where she sent those bullies flying.

“What?” was all Kuri’s frazzled mind could comprehend.

Then she gave this wide smile that made his insides go numb, bouncing onto her feet standing in front of him, holding out her hand, “C’mon, I can give you a few basic stances at least that can help you against guys like them…” she was honest, and trying, but part of Kuri still didn’t believe, or process, what she was doing. Showing a bit of impatience, Ruri pouted adorably, reaching out to grab his hand and tug, signaling she wasn’t going to pull him up but she’d drag him if she had to, “C’mon…”

Kuri just continued to stare at her, almost in a daze, “Why?”

“So you can defend yourself,” her pout seemed to almost become desperate, “Please, I can at least show you some things that’ll help…” her voice got lighter and sadder as she spoke even if it was obvious she was trying not to let it slip.

Dark brows furrowed on the chubby boy’s face as something irrational slipped into his mind and for a moment he thought she was playing with him, trying to get him to mess up to laugh or… or… he didn’t know, something he didn’t want. Yanking his hand out of her light grasp he frowned angrily and looked away from her, “I don’t need your help…”

Ruri seemed to stiffen at his low words, biting her lip and bringing her hands together in front of herself, looking lost.

Still angry Kuri looked at her. He expected her to huff and storm off, be like everyone else who showed him any sympathy, showing their true colors when he rejected their ploys. He’d wised up to these games, he didn’t need it anymore it was bad enough it was **_her_** trying but-

His thoughts died when he looked at her. She was looking at the ground, her blonde brows raised in the center sadly scrunching up her six dot scars, while her hands were around stomach level, the knuckles of her first two fingers pressed together while she seemed to be mindlessly pushing her thumbs together back and forth and her bare toes wiggled almost nervously. She looked cute and dejected and he felt like an ass for making her feel that way…

He ran a hand over his shaved head, “S-sorry…”

“I-its o-okay…” her thumbs pressed tighter as she didn’t look at him, “I-I understand…”

The stuttering made Kuri feel even more like a jerk but he just didn’t get her, didn’t understand why someone like **_her_** , who obviously excelled at taijutsu bother to hide it, let alone reveal herself defending _him_ **. –** _it doesn’t make any sense…_ \- he was still skeptical of her motive but his sudden anger had subsided mostly, “Why… why do you bother so much?” – _bother with_ **me** _so much?_ \- he glanced away when her eyes snapped up, “why do you want to help someone like me, fat who obviously doesn’t care enough to be a proper shinobi…”

“That’s not true!” her voice was part indignant scream, part whine, catching Kuri’s attention, “Not everyone’s good at everything, you’re good at chakra and ninjutsu, it just takes longer for the results to show in that then taijutsu…” she was pressing her thumbs together again and looked at her toes, “in the long run ninjutsu always beats taijutsu unless they’re a master of multiple arts… then its kind of even but…” tiny black eyes glanced up a moment to see the chubby boy looking at her and Kuri could have sworn she squeaked, “I-I j-just th-thought i-it’d be n-nice to offer… you… a… hand…” her last few words were barely audible as she seemed to lose what confidence she’d had at the beginning.

It made Kuri pout seeing her deflate so much, she was usually this kind of calming supportive pillar for the other kids around her or as shown earlier a ruthless demon in the ring, being ‘meek’ by any standard was _not_ what Kurogami Ruri was, at least to him, “Stop it!”

The words were out before he realized it and the silence that followed was deafening.

Ruri was back to biting her lip and pressing her thumbs, but at least this time she was still looking at him.

Kuri’s chubby face flushed as he felt stupid for yelling, “That’s… ugh!” he rubbed his eyes, hitting his nose and sending pain throughout his face, having forgotten about it with talking to Ruri. He whined, nearly cried, and realized after a few seconds that Ruri was kneeling in front of him, gently grabbing his hands and pulling them away. She still looked skittish, like she’d run at any moment and part of him felt if he caused that she’d never come back. A deep frown pulled at his face as he felt tears at the edges of his eyes, either from the pain of his nose or the idea of her running from him was anyone’s guess, “That’s not what I meant…” he said low with a deep sigh.

“I know.” She put his hands down, still holding them and looking down as well.

A pout crossed Kuri’s face, “I meant… you acting like this,” he would have waved his hand had she not been holding it to the ground, “You’re always confident, self-assured, kickass,” he smiled at the last one, hoping she would too, “So why… why you acting all skittish, even scared, around me…” his smile faded as his sadness from earlier set up, “I’m just the fat kid in class that can’t throw a decent punch, I’m nothing to be scared of…”

She mumbled something he didn’t catch so tugged on her hand and brought it up under he own chin, forcing her to look at him. There were unshed tears in her eyes and he didn’t know why, but the surprise on his face must have sparked something in her as suddenly they were alive and fierce as she nearly yelled despite their close proximity, “I LIKE YOU THE WAY YOU ARE!!”

The silence that followed was extremely awkward.

Kuri for his part was sure he was completely red and Ruri had her eyes closed like she was expecting a hit to the face. All the shaved boy could do was blink and respond quite eloquently with, “What?”

Now Ruri had an angry pout on her face as she opened her eyes and all but glared at him, “I like you the way you are,” she tightened her grip on his hands and he wondered if she realized it, “You’re not fat, you’re chubby, there’s nothing wrong with that and its stupid for the other kids to pick on you when there are some styles out there where such a body type is ideal, forms **_they_** could never master and would wipe the floor with their stupid smug faces…”

As her little rant went her face seemed to morph into something more like her battle face, fierce and angry but there was something utterly adorable about it as she pouted and made it cute. Realizing this caused Kuri to laugh slightly and enjoy as she turned a few shades of red.

Her pout grew and some of her smoldering anger seemed to subside as the girl looked away, “B-besides… I wouldn’t… I mean I’d rather…” her voice devolved again into a kind of mumble as she looked away and her hands seemed to get hotter.

Quirking a brow Kuri squeezed her hand to get her attention back on him, her face was red and he was sorry to do this but he felt he needed to hear this, “You’d rather what?”

Beneath her tiny blonde brows she glanced up at him with small black eyes, biting her lip for a moment before saying what she’d said previously, “I’d rather be chubby like you…” at his confused stare Ruri seemed to make a decision, nodding her head and pulling her hands out of his, sitting back on her feet she reached up and undid something on the back of her neck, grabbing both sides of the collar of her dress and pulled it down.

It took Kuri a second to realize a **_girl_** was undressing in front of him. He was ten, he was chubby, he was the guy other kids made fun of, a **_girl_** should **_not_** be undressing in front of him!

As she pulled the dark fabric down she tugged at the sleeves, pulling her arms out and allowing the top to pool around her waist.

When Kuri’s mind had processed what was happening in front of him his immediate response was to look away. When, out of the corner of his eye he noticed she’d stopped and her hands clinched he realized she was waiting for him to say something, meaning she expected, _wanted_ him to see… and as he turned towards her he realized this was Kurogami Ruri, the girl everyone only saw her hands, feet and face of as everything else was covered by that baggy dark dress…

And now he understood why…

The girl in front of him was his age and for most girls his age he expected to see them in cloths that flattered parts of them that hadn’t grown in yet or showed off skin and were generally a lot softer than the boys as that’s how girls were designed. They were supposed to have lighter skin and no scars as generally girls didn’t like to get into fights like boys and even if they did they somehow managed to get away without excessive damage. This was what his parents told him, what the teachers told him, what other boys and girls told him…

By all those standards what was in front of him was not a girl, even if she had a wrap around her chest that did little to hide its early development.

Kurogami Ruri lived up to her name, her skin was dark, not just ‘tan’ or ‘dark tan’ as he’d previously thought now that he had more to compare but it was **_dark_**. She was not soft by any measure of the word as what was in front of him were tightly wound muscles on a girl his age that made most of the boys look like weaklings. She had an **_eight_** pack along with significant definition to her pectorals and obliques despite what of her developing breasts were hidden it was obvious they were the only part of her body that contained any fat. Her shoulders were broad and powerful, the bone and muscles around them clearly defined, her arms were a lot thicker and looked to be hard as rock, completely opposite of what her deceptive clothing would suggest. But most of all… she had scars… everywhere… most were small little nuances of detail, but others were bigger and obvious, in places she’d likely broken those bones and they’d come out far enough to break skin along with whatever other damage from whatever other kind of training she had to get a body like that.

Kuri could only blink, his mind still trying to process what he was seeing. He had to gulp as his mind seemed to finally reset and decided how to interpret what was in front of him…

“Perfect.”

He noticed a slight change in her color around her neck and his eyes traveled of their own accord up to her face which was just staring at him with wide eyes surrounded by red.

Then his brain caught up to the fact he’d said that out loud, “Ah-agh!” the sound that came out of his voice was not very manly and he was quite embarrassed by it, but the fact Ruri had yet to move told him she probably didn’t register it or was trying to decide how to do something about it. Suddenly feeling his mortality Kuri waved his hands in front of him, “Th-that’s… its… I mean…” he was panicking and he was sure the red on his face was getting worse, “Y-you’re body is… Its… I mean… just… perfect!” giving up he waved his hands to reference what was in front of him, “H-how could you not like this! Its! Its!!” his hands kept waving the more he couldn’t seem to get out what he wanted to say, “ ** _THIS_** is what they’re trying to get from us!! Why are you even here!! You should be out there with the Raikage beating up other shinobi not _HERE_ wasting your time!!” that was a bit _more_ then he’d intended…

At first she was blushing out of embarrassment but slowly as he went on it seemed something didn’t click right and her tense muscular body almost seemed to sag, if it were capable of such, as she deflated and eventually just looked at the ground with empty eyes.

Realizing he must have said something wrong Kuri stopped and looked at the girl, “Ruri?”

“It was a mistake,” her voice was low and dejected and quickly she put her top back on and fastened it back up, turning with the obvious intent to leave.

Instantly the chubby boy’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, _feeling_ now that he knew better just how much even the tiny muscles there were wound tight and a hair’ breath away from springing forth with all the power they had. Ruri was stronger than he or anyone realized and she’d been hiding it, showing it to him of all people for some reason he didn’t understand and now he’d said something wrong that was sending her away? “Stop!” he stood up when she pulled slightly but she didn’t continue on her path. She knew restraint, how to hide her now obvious strength well enough to trick people or as he slowly realized to act normal, “W-what’d I do? What’d I say?” when she continued looking away he felt desperate, she’d shown him something private, something important and she was the only person that ever said she liked him the way he was, “Please, Ruri…”

There was a sniffle and he felt a small shiver throughout her body, “You’re just like my parents…” this sniff was a bit deeper and he could almost feel her chest heave, “You don’t see me either…”

“What’d’you mean?” a chubby pout formed on Kuri’s face as his thin eyes almost glared at her and he wished he had the strength to keep her there without relying on her politeness, “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen…”

It took him nearly a minute to realize what he’d said then even longer to realize he’d said it out loud.

Luckily Ruri was still the entire time, so that was a good thing, right?

Before Kuri could think of a single thing to say the pale blonde girl in front of him slowly, _very_ slowly, turned to stare at him with wide eyes. it was obvious she didn’t believe what he said but the fact she hadn’t run away meant she wanted to, right?

Kuri turned about fifteen shades of red as all he could think to do was stare at her as well. He wasn’t going to run away or deny what he said… he just didn’t know what to do from there…

After a couple long minutes of neither talking, just awkwardly staring at each other, small black eyes finally seemed to blink as Ruri asked quite clearly, “Say it again…”

Kuri gulped, blushed and gave one serious nod, “Y-you’re the most be-beautiful g-girl I’ve ever s-seen…” it wasn’t completely right or as perfect but it would do. At least he’d managed to look her in the eyes the whole time he said it.

Slowly, _very_ slowly, a smile spread on Ruri’s face and even though she obviously blushed she didn’t look away from him as she returned his sentiments, in her own way, “I think you’re the cutest boy I’ve ever seen.” Her words were short, sweet, and honest.

It made Kuri blush as he scratched his shaved head with his free hand, “W-well it’s not like you’ve seen _me_ without my shirt on or anything, that might change your mind…” the way she smiled with her eyes closed made him think she had. His eyes bugged out and he tried not to sputter too much which only caused the blonde girl to giggle and he thought it best to just not say anything about the thought.

After the giggle and sputtering was over Ruri took a leap and took a few steps closer to Kuri, neither seeming to want to let go as she looked at him earnestly and sincerely, “I’d still like to help train you, i-if you want?”

Still scratching his head and blushing slightly from earlier, Kuri did the only thing he could think of at the moment, he nodded. The sparkle and bright smile the threatened to split Ruri’s face was worth it, any embarrassment to see that Kuri decided right then and there. He trusted her, after seeing her body like that to believe she knew what she was talking about when it came to taijutsu, no one looked like that and didn’t learn a thing about fighting, but he couldn’t help but ask, “What makes you so sure you can train me?”

The smile didn’t leave her face but it did temper quite a bit. She pushed up on her toes, leaning towards him and pointed at the spots on her head with her free hand, “This.” Being this close Kuri could see that the dots were indeed scars, likely burns, in her forehead showing two columns of three dots coming up from the middle of her eye brows. He hadn’t been the only one that had wondered what they were or what they meant so he could only cock his head at her not understanding how that explained anything. Her smile didn’t falter, she just stood back on her heels and ran her finger over the scars, “It’s a sign in my family that I’m well versed enough to pass on what I know…”

“Pass on what you know” dark brows furrowed as the boy’s stare went from the dots on her forehead to her eyes several times.

She gave a quick nod, “it’s a brand my family has passed down since the elder brother of the first Raikage, my great-grandfather,” she idly rubbed the spots looking down, “It represents the six paths of Samsara, the six trials of life and six ways of fighting he learned and passed down while in his travels…” her eyes returned to him, “Its… tradition, that we can’t enter the academy without it as it means we’ve honed our skills enough and know well enough to teach others what we know and are capable of defending ourselves,” she gave a curiously pensive quirk to her smile, “It’s not easy by any means and to travel the path is to suffer each realm before walking it on your own…”

Without thinking Kuri reached out with his free hand, touching the spots gently, noticing how she almost flinched at the contact, “You had to endure harsh training to receive each one?”

A quick nod was his immediate response, “One must travel from the highest path, Deva,” she reached up and pointed to the dot on the top right, “To the lowest path, Naraka,” she switched to the one on the bottom left, “Before being worthy of saying you can defend yourself in my family, as was my great-grandfather’s wish for his children, after what he’d been through in his life.”

Kuri lowered his hand, realizing the topic wasn’t exactly something she wanted to talk about completely, at least not yet, “It sounds harsh…”

“It was,” that was the lowest she spoke, keeping her eyes down for a long while before glancing up at him, bringing back that honest smile of hers, “Not that you need to worry about that, just that because of my training I know some styles that can help you out…”

“I’d like that,” Kuri gave her a small smile for a moment, enjoying watching her smile adorably for a moment before leaning down and doing something stupid.

Kurogami Ruri tensed and tried to remain as still as possible when she felt Kuri lean down, she didn’t expect the boy to attack her or anything like that but it took a lot of effort on her part to not allow her reflexes to send him off the roof for the proximity invasion… and she was curious what he’d do. So she was rather surprised, shocked and completely flustered when she felt his warm lips on her forehead.

It was just a peck and grin from the boy but it made her turn at least twenty shades redder.

Kuri could only grin widely, “and that’s thanks, for what you did earlier, and this…” he could only scratch his shaved head and wonder what got into him. Maybe she was just too cute, maybe she needed something positive to connect to those dots… but he didn’t care, she was cute when she blushed.

Ruri’s only response was to nod. No words, no sound, and no other movement, for if she tried she probably would have sent him off the roof…


	17. The 'Affectionate Teasing' Thing...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the Uzu-War coming to a close, Reki has a gift for XS376...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon - takes place nearly 20 years ago, the time when the Uzu-War was ending...

The ‘Affectionate Teasing’ Thing…

“Hey kid, c’mere,” a tan hand waved the young girl over. Reki, Commander of Company 1, was sitting on a grassy hill overseeing the remains of the last battle, and drinking, as usual.

The young white haired girl turned to her leader and approached closer. There was probably some new mission for her and the remains of the shock-troops.

“Sit down,” with her free hand the Commander pointed next to herself, but the girl simply sat where she’d been standing, far enough away to be a shadow and out of reach, like always. Reki gave a little smirk to her cup, “I meant next to me, kid.”

The white haired girl didn’t move.

Reki didn’t bother asking again, “Here,” she pulled out a scroll, unsealing something, “Meant to give this to you before this was all over, buuuuut… well…” she leaned back with a smirk, tossing something grey at the young girl, “Shit happens right?”

Grey eyes blinked as the pale girl picked up the object. It was cloth, partly head with hardened plates in certain areas. When she lifted it up, unfolding it revealed a triangular vest. She blinked again, “Commander?”

Reki’s grin seemed to spread, “Figured it was about time I promoted one of you guys, only have like three of you left,” she swirled the drink in her hand, “With the war wrapping up, the only way any of you are getting out of going back to R&D is with a field promotion,” she smirked over her shoulder.

Emotionlessly grey eyes blinked, “Why?” it was the first time she had ever questioned an action of her superior. Delicately she folded the grey vest in her lap, staring at the black haired woman in front of her, “There are extenuating reasons I can’t accept this, Commander…” pale hands fidgeted on top of the grey cloth.

Reki set he cup down, having finished it long ago, and pulled out a slim cigarette, “That’s easy,” swiftly she pulled out a cheap lighter and lit the cigarette, taking a quick drag and blowing it out, “You’re the only one’a you guys that remembers what the word ‘I’ means, let alone still able to use it…”

The white haired girl stiffened.

Lazy black eyes watched the sun setting over the battlefield, “I dunno how long you were there, and it’s pretty easy to guess you were bought and sold to the crazy bastards…” out of the corner of her eye, Reki could see the girl’s hands tighten over the vest, “But even still… I walked in on them cutting your arm apart, just to see how much they could do to you, and still you didn’t so much as move a muscle,” changing her position so her knees were up so she could rest her elbows on them, Reki pulled out the cigarette and watched the sky, “You’ve got a mind like an iron box, and already I know you can handle anything,” a light smirk, “And you’ve never done anything but follow my orders to the letter…” glancing over her shoulder she caught the girl’s eyes, probably the first reaction she’d ever seen in them, “Far as I care, you’ve passed all the tests, you’re good enough in my eyes to be one’a us…” she turned back, replacing the cigarette, “Besides, what’re they gonna do? Fire me for promoting you, hehe…”

Pale hands gripped the vest in her lap, “C-Commander-”

“Reki,” she threw back, laying down on the grass with her hands behind her head, ending up level with the girl, “Name’s Gakushin Reki, kid, not ‘Commander’, not anymore, least to you far as I care…”

There was an obvious hesitance in the girl’s grey eyes as she kept her view on her hands and the vest in her lap, unsettled by the nearness of the older woman.

“What’s your name,” Reki mumbled out, “Don’t think I ever asked.”

Her shoulders slumped, “R&D designation XS376, or ‘Kemui’ as I was named-”

“I don’t care about that bullshit!!” the older woman’s voice snapped, causing the pale girl the jump slightly. Reki frowned, sure she knew she was going to get that response, but that wasn’t what she was asking, “I wanna know **_your_** name, the one your parents named you, the one **_you_** want to be called,” angrily she waved her hand to the changing sky, “Not all that other bullshit, understand.”

“Hai,” the girl understood orders, felt comfortable with them, so she took this as seriously as one. Closing her eyes the white haired girl thought for a moment, trying to remember what it was her master used to call her… what her parents called her, “S-Satsuki…”

“There,” the hand closest to Satsuki reached up and poked her on the forehead, “Was that so hard?” when Reki removed her hand, she was smirking at the girl who immediately reached up to rub the spot on her head.

The little pout she gave was surprisingly scathing.

It made Reki laugh, “Hehe, well, nice to meet you Satsu-chan~” this time the older woman held out her hand, “Like I said, I’m Reki!”

A small bit of color came to the girl’s pale face as she looked at the woman lying next to her’s extended hand. She’d seen the gesture before but no one ever really approached her with it. For the past year between returning to her village, the attack, and being sold off to R&D and the war over Uzu as one of the Shock-troops attached to Company 1, no one had really cared about her enough to introduce themselves. She’d been serving this woman for the past few months and never before had she bothered, now this?

Hesitantly Satsuki took Reki’s hand, not sure what to expect.

The older woman just smirked, shaking it twice and letting go. No attack, no injury, no ulterior motive, just a handshake between equals.

Then Reki but her hand back behind her head, frowning at the sky as if she were thinking about something, “Hmm… suppose the brass won’t like one’a you experiment guys going around on your own right off the bat,” her head tilted, “Even though **_I_** know you’re not nuts like the rest were, you are a bit socially impaired,” her head tilted the other way, “Guess there’s no choice!” suddenly the young woman sat up, dropping her fist into her head as if making an important decision.

“R-Reki-san?” Satsuki couldn’t help but question, it was a new concept to her but with the strange actions of her Commander she couldn’t help it.

Swiftly Reki turned around, squintily staring at her new charge, “Guess I’ll just have to take you home when this is all done.”

A white brow rose.

Reki grinned wide and put her hand on the girl’s shoulder.

That brow just went up higher…

“Whelp, guess I’m you’re new guardian!” she patted the girl’s stiff shoulder, “Well, least till you’re acclimated to _people_ enough that I know you won’t just go around killing them,” a tan hand came up with the index finger raised, waving it about as if she were making a very serious point, “Doing that to our enemies is okay, not our own… unless they’re dicks and trying to kill you, then sure, why not,” she nodded to herself before tilting her head, “Though probably better to just maim them… unless that doesn’t stop them… then…”

“Reki-san?” despite the raised brow, Satsuki’s grey eyes were serious on the older woman, confused by her rambling.

Reki just moved her hand to the girl’s head, mussing up her short hair, “Never mind, we’ll learn that eventually, by the way,” the woman leaned in close, moving her hand enough to tug at the short cropped white hair on the girl, “Why the hell do you keep your hair this short?” she leaned around, “I mean, besides that one braid, all the rest of its barely an inch long?” Reki chuckled, finally putting her hand down, “You must’a fought tooth and nail to keep that little bit if R&D was shaving you up, hehe~”

Grey eyes looked down and there was a strange burning sensation across her cheeks, “Its… it’s a reminder of my master… the man that trained me…”

Reki gave a pleasant smile, then poked her in the head again, “S’okay kid, I don’t care, grow it out however you want,” she lowered her hand and tugged at the grey vest in the girl’s lap, “You’re a Chuunin now, its your job to make decisions on your own!”

When Satsuki looked up, Reki was giving another one of those face splitting wide smiles of hers. It was one of those rare ones that weren’t threatening, instead… comforting.

An edge to her lips decided to rise and she decided this ‘Reki’ woman wasn’t so bad…


	18. The Butcher and Body-Snatcher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Kimyou and Yue ended up in R&D...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon - indeterminant time period prior to Kimyou and Yue's appearance during Arc 3... guesstimate 10 years prior...

Butcher and Body-Snatcher

His name was Kimyou, and it was best to leave it at that.

He was once a member of Company A and was a frontline fighter, watching day in and day out in bloody wars as comrades and enemies alike were torn to pieces and blown apart.

He even watched his partner get ripped to shreds, having been used as a replacement into his own attack. The smattering of bone and tissue before his mind caught up to what he’d done he automatically described as _beautiful_.

Sadly he’d yet to find something so beautiful, or soul-wrenching as that moment in the trenches to Iwa.

He was picked up by Company 8, the counter-strike division of Kumo’s ANBU. It was their job to be the last ones to leave the battlefield, making sure their lower forces escaped while they hit back at the enemy hard with every dirty trick in the book.

He rather liked his job, it was why he got the nickname ‘Butcher’ because he was always particularly brutal to those that dared come close to whatever flank he was guarding.

He became especially skilled at ‘dungeon crawls’ as they were called, retreat maneuvers for places like mazes or castles, with limited space and options for escape, especially when one couldn’t just blow open a hole in the wall and jump out. Some members of ANBU did have some tact.

His weapon of choice was a short jagged blade, similar to a chopping knife only with a serrated edge. He’d carry one or two in each hand and saw his way through his enemies, revealing in their muffled screams and shock. This too added to his name as the Butcher.

It frankly started to scare those in his company.

At one point he didn’t even follow them out as they escaped, simply stayed in the castle and cut up all the bodies he could find.

They had thought he was dead, but he showed up three days later covered in blood and gore grinning.

He didn’t even ask if those they evacuated were okay.

The Commander gave him several more jobs and tries, but it eventually became obvious he wasn’t thinking straight.

The Butcher was transferred to Company 4, hoping the assassins could deal with him and his killing fetish.

They gave him one job and that was enough.

When he failed to check in on time they’d sent the Hunters of Company 5 to check on him.

What they found was the castle covered in body parts and gore.

He’d been sent to kill the Lord’s concubine that was poisoning the man, likely a Konoichi from another village, so he’d do whatever she said and was making business hard for Kumo in the area.

He’d killed her alright, and the entire household, all the way down to chickens out back.

Nothing lived in the place, not even carrion eaters dared come near as several of their breather had fallen to the Butcher’s blades already.

When the Hunters found him he was seated on the raised stage in the Lord’s room, arranging the body parts of the head family into bizarre designs and patterns.

He merely turned to look at them with a wide grin, “Come see what I’ve made!”

He was taken into custody and the castle burned to the ground, work of ‘bandits’ officially.

No one bothered to ask all that he did in that place, as he’d spent nearly a week alone with the bits and pieces of bodies that were once human.

He didn’t seem offended, just simply asking when was the next time he was going out: “I’d like to get some new pieces and try out some new art…”

The Judicator gave him the option of execution or work at R&D.

His only question was: “Will they give me new pieces to work with?”

They didn’t bother responding, simply sending him ahead.

He was greeted at the door by his new partner, a buxom woman with pale cream colored hair and hazel eyes who smiled at him in a familiar way.

“Welcome home, Butcher…”

He merely looked at her and gave a solemn grin.

\-----

Her name was Yue. Just Yue, as her surname depended on what mission she was performing for Company S, 3 or 4.

For S she was told to seduce her prey, often as a geisha or courtesan, sometimes as a common whore. Buy them drinks, flash a smile and skin, watch as their eyes wander and their lips loosen. All the Commander ever cared about was that she got the information they wanted, never caring what she did with them after…

After her partner’s death it became like a ritual to her to cater off her sources to some dark corner where they were never heard from again. It didn’t matter how valuable they were, they simply disappeared and that was that. It was how she got the nickname ‘Body-Snatcher’.

For 3 the spy game had higher stakes. Usually this meant she was deep undercover for a long time, playing a role where the name would change day by day slowly making her way around a city in some foreign land, marking off the targets and information her Commander wanted. Her longest stint was 3 years in a coastal city in the land of fire. A number of men and women disappeared, but many assumed they simply ran away as ports were traveling cities. People easily got lost there.

For 4 she did a little bit of everything but she liked these ones the most. As everywhere she went someone was bound to go missing only this time her Commander approved.

It wasn’t until one night, after the sex, drugs and blood when her fellow members came to collect the body of the newly deceased target that they realized they’d lost sight of their assassin. The ‘Gravediggers’ from Company 9 had collected the corpse, replacing it with a fake and set the tower ablaze to make it seem like an accident before leaving into the cold night to find out where their fellow shinobi had gotten to.

They had heard of the Body-Snatcher’s reputation, and thought it satisfied with her kill, the whole line about ‘disappearing bodies never to be seen again’ just jovial bullshitting between fellow company members. But now the assassin was nowhere in sight and they had a scene to quickly flee.

The one in the grey bird mask signed, ‘ _Where has she run off to?’_

The one in the dark blue lizard mask waved their hand, _‘No idea.’_

Splitting up, as they had mere minutes before the blaze was truly discovered, the two went into the city to try and find their wayward comrade.

The grey bird found a wooden building that gave off the scent of the perfume she had used, and the dark blue lizard confirm it felt like her chakra was inside. Warily the two crept inside, prepared for anything they could imagine and hoping to not find their comrade bleeding on the floor.

There was blood on the floor, lots of it but none coming from Yue.

“Oh, I see you found me,” with a slasher’s grin the buxom, nearly-naked woman turned and grinned at them. She didn’t care for the blood on her hands, the blood painting her lips or the intricate delicate knives held in both hands. Her pale hazel eyes stared with a kind of empty euphoria that scared even them.

For behind the woman was a strung up body of unknown origin, held by wires cutting into the wrists, ankles and neck without care as the body itself was cut and splayed open. Skin finely removed and shown as if on display. Bones pulled out at joints, sockets on display, the entire ribcage open to the world.

But the worst part? The absolute worst thing that scared even the ANBU Gravediggers?

The organs were on full display in the center… the heart was still beating.

And Yue just smiled, proud of her work.

They never found out who the man was that she’d cut open, as it was clearly _once_ male from the pieces they picked up off the ground. the Gravediggers quickly scrubbed the scene down, removing all evidence, making it so this thing had never happened, even if they two could still see clear as day when they closed their eyes.

They had arrested Yue, primarily for killing an unknown civilian, one they weren’t under _contract_ to kill.

Her complaint: “Why do you suddenly care **_now_** who I make into art?”

That brought back the reminder of her nickname, of all the people who’d gone missing in her career… her list of victims was likely in the thousands by now.

And she no longer understood why that was wrong.

The true horror was that they’d only left her out of their sight for about twenty minutes.

And **_THAT_** was what she could do in **_twenty MINUTES_**.

Once they returned to Kumo and she was handed over to the judicator, her options were clear: execution or service in R&D.

When asked what her options were in R&D she was told they’d use her ‘special talents’ to further their own research into the limits of the human body.

The Body-Snatcher simply grinned, liking this new career change.


	19. In the Pale Moonlight...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuck in Konoha as 'Hyuuga Hinata' once again, Yorihi is up all night training and has an unexpected guest...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Non-canon - one of my oldest asides, determined too much has changed since i made this for it to ever be used in WYCH and i honestly just like the scene, it HAS affected some current writings such as what Yorihi says to Neji in the Chuunin Exams Begin Arc...

_‘You are not Her!’_

Yorihi closed her eyes giving a low sigh. Shaking her head the young woman got into her fighting stance, irritated that even in her head she had to correct herself. Her hands crossed over her chest and lightly hovered over the top two swords.

Taking a light breath, she drew them in a slow, meticulous motion.

Here, in Konoha, she was ‘Hyuuga Hinata’, she had willingly relinquished her _name_ for the opportunity to pursue those that threaten the people she cared for, killed her Teacher.

In one swift motion she cut down with both blades, perfectly still both body and blades and the only motion came from the rise of dust on the ground.

She released her breath, ready to begin.

‘Hinata’ began moving. Her name did not change who she was, how she fought, how she lived. Since her glorious ‘return’ the Hyuuga had ‘tried’ to inform her of her duties and her place, some invoking politics others heritage and a whole mess of other useless things.

Her left sword came down.

They seemed to think that because she was in ‘that barbarian village’, her home, she was a victim, mistreated, abused and they were kami’s gift to her for allowing her back into their midst, for knowing what was ‘right’ and returning to them.

Cross slash with her right.

They seemed to _conveniently_ forget that she _chose_ to come here, and it wasn’t for ‘them’.

Spin, upper cut slash with the left.

She had only one mission being in this damnable village. That was to stick close to the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and bide her time graciously until he ran across the Akatsuki that tried to kill her sister and as far as they could tell very **_really_** killed her Teacher.

Wrist shift, drop low, backwards slash with the left, follow through with the right.

Her teeth clinched, brows brought together only slightly. The Hyuuga seemed to think her stay was permanent, most of them; her ‘ _Father’_ was a wall she couldn’t get a read on and could respect the man for that. Her ‘ _Cousin_ ’ shared his sentiments, being closed off and ‘watching’ her. The rest of the village seemed to be filled with sentimental fools all too willing to pity her for her ‘horrible’ life at the hands of enemy ninja.

Momentum sustained, spin, back kick.

- _Fuck them!_ \- she wanted to shout in all their staring faces, but it would be against her Teacher’s memory to act in such a brash fashion. _Anything for the mission_ had been a calling card of hers. The woman personified efficiency because unlike most ‘ninja’ she didn’t lie about her limits, instead was very aware of them and knew just how to work **_with_** them to achieve her goals. Even willing to play the fool no one else would… ninja had too much pride.

Turn around, vertical chop with left.

“Your grip’s too tight, you’d break your wrist if you hit your target,” came a voice from the open hall.

‘Hinata’ breathed out slowly, standing up straight, gripping her swords visibly tighter but at her sides as she turned towards the woman without really looking at her.

“Heh,” the intruder leaned easily against a post on the outer walk, her grin all too wide and lost in the darkness, “don’t you ever turn them off?” she opened her chocolate colored eyes and nodded to the ‘Hyuuga’s’ closed eyes, “Thought it was impolite to talk with an active Byakuugan, let alone your eyes closed?”

The swordswoman’s eyes opened slowly, halfway at most, and unlike every other time they’d been ‘seen’ by others actually turned her pale irises towards the grinning woman. She recognized her, of course, any Kumo-nin worth their weight read up on the latest ‘up and coming’ from other villages, “Tenten.”

The bun-haired girl smirked, “Suppose I should be surprised that you know me,” another grin with her eyes closed, “Of course I’m not.”

“Hmp,” the ‘Hyuuga’ flicked her swords and delicately crossed her arms, sliding them easily back into their sheaths.

Tenten’s grin dropped, as a curious look came over her face, wondering why the ‘foreign’ woman put away her weapons, “Weren’t you training?”

Those pale irises pinned the weapon’s mistress with the intensity of a permanently active Byakuugan, but she brushed it off as if nothing special. Against her initial demeanor, the edges of Yorihi’s lips rose in a very small smirk, “No…” she looked down at her swords; they were the only thing that remained of her Kumo attire; four blades on a holster, two on each side, which draped over her legs. The Hyuuga were furious that she refused to remove these weapons, seeing it as an affront to their tradition, one she gladly insulted.

A brown brow piqued slightly, “Not afraid I’m going to attack you?”

The midnight blue haired woman turned on the other and just stared as flatly as a Byakuugan could, “I’m not unarmed…”

Tenten smirked lightly, bringing one arm down from behind her head and twirling a kunai, “It’d take longer for you to draw a sword then for me to hit you…”

Tattooed brows lowered slightly, “ ** _If_** you could hit me…”

There was that grin again as the older woman gripped the kunai in a reverse grip, “I never miss.”

“And I’m never unarmed,” the former cloud Konoichi stated flatly, taking several steps out onto the outer walk, pale active eyes finding the moon more interesting than the woman next to her.

Tenten stared at the woman. By blood she was a Hyuuga, her eyes made it obvious, but everything else about her screamed foreigner and she knew why. For the past 13 years this woman had been ‘Tenkyuu Yorihi’ daughter of the Raikage, blood-hunter, Jounin, and various other things while the little girl she’d been born as died quietly. Until now.

“You came to ask a question?” her voice was low but harsh, it held command easily but bit more harshly than any Hyuuga the weapons-mistress had ever heard. While ‘polite’ by common standards she must have sounded ‘common’ to all the Hyuuga.

“Came for a number of things,” Tenten shrugged, “one is to keep an eye on you…”

The woman’s grip tightened on her sword furthest from the brunette, “Did my ‘ _cousin_ ’ send you?” the way she spit the word ‘cousin’ piqued Tenten’s interest but it said more about her opinion of her current predicament then directly asking would.

“Mm,” Tenten shrugged again, glancing at the moon but in no way taking her ‘eyes’ off the woman, “Actually more because he _didn’t_ ask me…” brown eyes came down from the moon and saw the woman’s pale active eyes on her. She grinned at that, “He didn’t say anything about you, I _chose_ to watch you _for_ him though.”

Something flickered across the Hyuuga’s bottomless eyes, “I see,” her eyes shifted to the ground presumably, “So there are people here that follow that code…” Tenten grinned something with more bite then her previous ones, touching on a glimpse of the dragon under her soft expression. Yorihi’s eyes went back to her at that, “You serve him?”

She didn’t laugh, which was something to her credit, merely closed her eyes and shook her head, “Mm-mm,” brown eyes openly slightly, looking at nothing, “I could never _serve_ him, he’d never allow it,” she took a deep breath and sighed loud enough to hear, “And I have too much pride to allow such a thing…”

A tattooed brow piqued slightly, and the light rising at the side of the foreign woman’s lips said she understood what was unsaid. They’d never _say_ it, not that it wasn’t understood. The not-Hyuuga looked to the moon again, “There is no pride lost in serving,” her hand unconsciously gripped her sword. Her Teacher served, to her dying breathe, and the woman had a pride all her own that was never squelched for it.

A brown brow rose, “aside from the obvious irony of either case,” she pouted, “I know that, we all serve our villages.”

“It’s not the same as serving a single person,” her grip stayed on her sword, jaw unconsciously clinching just the slightest.

Hearing the familiar sound of a grip on a weapon, Tenten looked at the younger woman solemnly. She wasn’t a Hyuuga but had spent long enough around one to be observant. She had a more analytical mind than many gave her credit for and she picked up small things others missed, even all-seeing-eyes, “You’re not here to stay,” it was a statement as her eyes held the foreign woman in them, “What is your _real_ reason for coming here?”

Ironically Yorihi’s hand loosened. It seemed someone in this village was intelligent. Too bad she knew how this game was played, even if she’d rather just tell and avoid the whole thing, “I managed to find an opening and came back here-”

“Bullshit,” the older woman said flatly, her tone wasn’t accusing which honestly surprised the blue haired woman, “I don’t care about the story you fed Tsunade-sama or your blood-relatives,” a tattooed brow piqued at her choice of words, “I want to know what really sent you here, what hurt so much to drive you here?”

Yorihi’s eyes widened just a fraction more as she slowly, meticulously turned to the bun-haired woman and for the first time in this entire conversation actually focused directly on her hard brown eyes.

“What tore you apart so much that you’re awake every night, gripping your sword so tightly it stings?”

For the first time in a long time Yorihi’s tattooed eyebrows furrowed obviously. She could _feel_ the muscles between her eyes curl as her eyes opened that much more, focusing on those unblinking brown eyes.

“What broke you?”

In a flash both women had their weapons out and drawing blood.

There was barely an inch between them, Yorihi’s bottom blades drawn and crossed, cutting into Tenten’s midsection and pinning her to the wooden beam. Tenten’s kunai were held in a similar stance at the would-be Hyuuga heiress’ throat, an inch of scarlet already trailing down the twin wounds.

White glared at brown and still she was unblinking.

“What makes you think I’m broken?” the not-Hyuuga whispered in a low, guttural tone.

The insufferable woman still managed to smirk, this time showing more of the dragon behind them, “I know that look,” her calloused and experienced hands tightened around her kunai, “I know that sound,” her brows started to furrow, “I know that feeling…”

Yorihi’s gripped tightened on her own weapons, but Tenten could feel the minute shake in them, “How do you know?” the question was low and against her will.

“Keh,” that insufferable grin, “when we first ‘met’, at the Chuunin exams, I’d already killed over a hundred people…” there was actually a confused look in the woman’s active white eyes, there was something hidden as Tenten’s grin became tighter, “perfect accuracy,” she shrugged despite their close contact, “At the time I didn’t understand what was ‘wrong’ with that, or simply didn’t acknowledge it, but I knew the moment the preliminaries were over…”

Yorihi’s face evened slightly as she leaned back, dislodging her blades from the wood.

Tenten kept staring, “my whole team lost, badly,” she started lowering her arms as the swordswoman removed her blades from her sides, “Me to Temari, Lee to Gaara, Neji to you…”

Yorihi gave no emotion at the statement.

Tenten smirked, “I got off easy while both of them nearly died,” brown eyes looked down as she relived her memories in an instant, “It was then I realized I would die after them, I would watch my whole team go long before me,” there was a shattered smirk picking at the edge of her lips, “All because I was the one hundred percent accurate killer…” her eyes became suddenly sharp as they pierced the not-Hyuuga.

The blue haired woman frowned slightly, barely visible in the moonlight, “It’s not the same…”

“Isn’t it?” for the first time that night the ordinary woman looked dangerous, threatening, “My sensei will go first, doing everything he can to protect his students,” she took a step forward, the glare in her eyes making them fierce, “Lee would be next, throwing himself into battle to avenge his idol while protecting those he cares most for,” another step, forcing Yorihi to either retreat or yet again have the woman invade her personal space. She didn’t move an inch, “And finally Neji, not for revenge of the other two, but doing all he could to make sure I got away free…” she stood in front of the imposing woman with her titles and backing and never once flinched from those staring active Byakuugan, “… I’ve seen them die, over, and over, and over again, knowing exactly how it’s going to happen, and every day I wake up, look in the mirror, and have to remind myself it wasn’t yesterday,” the grin became gruesome, “But it might be today…”

Yorihi narrowed her eyes, jaw clinched, “That isn’t the same…”

The grin dropped but the eyes continued glaring, “No, but I know the feeling, and I know that the day it happens I’ll run off and do something just as reckless, unforgivable and stupid as you,” she leaned back, crossing her arms as her eyes hardened, the façade she was so good at building itself back up.

White eyes closed, an almost pained expression covering her face.

Tenten turned slightly, giving a more ‘relaxed’ pose she was known for as she looked flatly at the interior of the Hyuuga room. She loved the man that would die for her, watched it almost happen more times than she cared to count, but she knew she’d never be here, a part of this ‘clan’ or never looked upon as an equal by them, even if things were changing. She didn’t particularly know what she wanted out of life after all she’d done, after all the blood she’d spilt and lives she’d taken. Only knew she’d do anything to protect her ‘boys’ and hold off the inevitable as long as possible, no matter how much blood was on her hands.

“Nyaa…”

Hard brown eyes lowered, spotting a wispy white-blue tabby, its long tail waving behind it. She stared at it a moment, “Thought ghost cats were supposed to have two tails?”

“He’s a Senri,” white eyes opened to see the woman staring at Bachiko, “Normally he keeps himself hidden…”

Tenten lowered herself to crouch, offering her hand as the spiritual cat seemed to sniff a moment before licking her hand, “Interesting pet…”

“He’s my partner,” the not-Hyuuga finally decided to sheath her swords, staring down at the two, “He will eat your flesh if you continue to offer it to him…” the prickly hairs on the cat’s tongue cut the weapons-mistress’ finger as she spoke, the woman didn’t move an inch as it continued to lick her blood. Yorihi frowned slightly, “I wouldn’t encourage him…”

An odd small smile graced Tenten’s lips as she moved her hand to pet the cat instead, “seems nice for a storied mountain monster,” the dark-haired woman shrugged. Tenten stood up, dusting off her pants as she went before putting her hands on her hips and stared at the foreign woman again, “So?”

Her hand twitched on her sword as her eyes turned to the floor, “Akatsuki tried to kill my sister and take away her ‘partner’,” she nodded down at the pleasantly sitting white cat, vibrant blue eyes staring up at both of them intelligently, “if not for him both would have died.”

“But?” Tenten crossed her arms, looking more at the cat then its owner.

“My teacher pursued them,” the grip on the sword was bone white while everything else was passive, “All that was found was one of her braids and far too much blood for anyone to have survived.”

Tenten nodded.

Yorihi stared at the weapons-mistress a moment, “She would have liked you,” brown eyes blinked as they turned to stare at her curiously, “My Teacher was not a ninja, she was an Assassin, her sole purpose was taking life,” the brunette frowned, seemingly offended. Yorihi shrugged, “She served only my father and valued the skill of someone that took life without the ‘theatrics’ of ninjutsu battles,” a level of solemnness entered the woman’s eyes as they trailed to the floor.

“So she was a killer?” Tenten put her hands on her hips and looked away.

Tattooed brows furrowed as white eyes glared at the woman, “She was an Assassin,” her voice was harsh wanting to shout that one truth, “Killers _enjoy_ killing, it was only her job, she didn’t _enjoy_ it, she was merely _good_ at it!”

A smile actually quirked at the edge of the bun-haired woman’s lips, “ ‘good at it’ huh?” the smile spread, “I’m very _good_ at it too,” brown eyes turned to those active eyes, the smile turning into a smirk, “So what’s the difference between an ‘Assassin’ and a ninja?” her eyes flickered over the woman’s shoulder.

“Why use a lightning jutsu when a knife works just as well?” white eyes stayed forward but there was a tick at the edge of the left one, “… or a Jyuuken strike?”

Tenten had that bright smile on her face again as she looked towards the hall behind the foreigner. She knew the midnight-blue haired woman could see him and she was busted anyway.

A tall, long haired man stepped out of the shadow of the hall. His pale eyes staring first from their ‘guest’ to his grinning teammate and finally on the white glowing cat. It seemed to give him a look with its vibrant eyes before snorting and walking two steps and vanishing. His eyes went immediately to the thing’s owner.

“Neji-san,” the woman’s harsh voice spoke and she didn’t bother turning around but her hand didn’t leave her sword either.

He nodded, “Hinata-sama,” he could practically _hear_ the woman grip her sword. Unlike the others of his clan he meant the name as no offense or means of coercion; it was a name, her birth name even if it wasn’t **_her_** name. His pale white eyes turned to his teammate, “Tenten, what are you doing here?” he didn’t bother asking ‘how’, it wasn’t the first time she’d ‘snuck’ in.

“hehe,” the brunette scratched the back of her head, not bothering to look innocent, “Nothing specific,” her eyes opened and flashed to the former Kumo-nin, “Just checking in on our ‘ _friend_ ’.”

There was a barely perceptible frown on the man’s lips. He didn’t need his eyes active to see the blood on her shirt, nor the blood on ‘Hinata’s’ neck, but he made no mention of it. For the moment it was between them. His stoic face turned and remained on Tenten a moment before he gave the barest of sighs, “Go home.”

Tenten shrugged raising her hands, in an instant she was gone.

Cold white eyes turned on the foreigner.

“No need to look at me like that,” Yorihi raised one hand and dabbed at the cuts on her neck, bringing it back into the light of the moon and passively staring at the dark color.

Neji forwent all Hyuuga decorum now that Tenten had left and it was just the two of them, his brown brows furrowed as his eyes turned to her in rage, “If you’ve-”

“You’ll what?” she vacantly stared at the blood on her hand, purposely ignoring him, “I’ve already cut her, same as she has me,” she rubbed her middle finger and thumb together, the blood already thick and coagulating, “In essence you’ve already failed both her as your lover and me as your charge…”

Neji’s Byakuugan activated instinctively.

Only for him to find a sword blade poised right in front of them begging to move forward and bite.

“Don’t you dare look at me with those eyes,” the blade glinted down allowing for a direct look between Byakuugan, even if it was entirely unnecessary.

Neji swallowed deeply. Her Byakuugan had never looked right to him. Their active bloodline caused the veins on the sides of the head to bulge out and pulse vividly with the extra blood required to maintain the extra sight. Hers were flat, the veins seemingly dead, brought to the surface of her skin from over use and burst, leaving only small lines where they once were. The iris of a normal Hyuuga’s Byakuugan typically moved where they focused, even just a tiny bit if staring forward. Perhaps it was the absence of pulsing veins to trick the eye, but her irises never moved. The woman was more likely to move her entire head then move her eyes individually, almost as if she truly were blind like she had pretended to be for years. Either way, looking into her _empty_ eyes was perhaps the only time _his_ wavered.

Slowly the veins around Neji’s eyes receded, and the moment they were gone so was the blade that so easily threatened them.

Quietly she put away her sword, unnerving eyes still on him, unblinking, unmoving. Then she closed her eyes and looked away, taking a step to past him, “Worry about yourself, _she’s_ the first person in this damned village I think I might actually like…”

And with that she was gone, and Neji was standing alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tenten is honestly my favorite character, just FYI~


	20. This calls for Silver

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 25 years of service and now Jin has a proper gift for her...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Non-canon (so far -.-) - a somewhat post-everything what-if sparked from a prompt about anniversaries, 25 years apparently calls for something 'silver' and by the point this takes place Kemui has 'served' Jin for 25yrs... plus with all the raging UST between these two they drive me up a wall so catharsis~

She had served him since was fifteen. Near the end of being fourteen she had been kicked out of the closest thing she ever called home and forced to live on her own. Soon after she had met a brash, loud little boy at least two years her junior. He looked at her, asked her opinion and offered her a room to stay in. a few months later, when she was fifteen she decided he would be the person she would follow for the rest of her life. He was and forever would be ‘Her Lord’.

At twenty-two she had decided to give up anything that made her human to become his perfect weapon. A blade was what he needed, not a wife, not a consort, not even a friend, and as always she would serve him well.

At twenty-four he adopted a young girl and she was assigned to be the child’s ‘teacher’. Slowly but surely the little girl mended wounds neither realized were there.

At twenty-nine she had a son during a mission, for whatever reason deciding not to kill him a year later when it was finished. He adored the little boy and told her to raise him to be strong, like her.

At thirty-seven she died for the last time. He, his daughter, and the family that had grown around them mourned thinking that had lost her. When she returned, someone else but someone completely the same, she had smiled and kissed him, stating she should have done that long ago.

At thirty-eight when the war finally ended with loved ones lost and new ones found, she stood next to him on the hill as they watched the new young heroes claim their victory. She took his hand and he never let go.

At forty his daughter had beaten him in combat, earning the right to claim his title. He gave it up with joy and pride in his heart that the young girl he had adopted long ago had grown into such a fine young woman under both his care and the woman that had stood by his side the whole time. The two of them had quickly slipped away while the young girl took the reins of her new position. They knew she would be fine, they had raised her well, and she had many that would support her to help out.

They had another matter to attend to…

Something extremely important and that they’d spent twenty-five years in waiting…

Out on the summit of one of the tallest peaks in the mountains of The Land of Lightning, Kemui, the Last Assassin, watched as the sun rose, shimmers of light rising above the snowy peaks as the colors in the sky changed from the darkest blues to reds, pinks, oranges and a sliver of yellow promising the sun’s arrival. The air around her hung of cold and frost, thin from the high altitude and only the barest of warmth where the light touched. She watched the change in the world around with the utmost clarity in her grey eyes.

She was smiling.

For once in her life, she watched the sun rise without a churning in her gut or a ripple across her shoulders. The sun’s rays beating back the darkness didn’t mean another night survived or another tick in a clock, counting down to a mission. She didn’t wake with the anxiety of the next moment or the fear of what had come before, or even the erratic ramblings her mind could conjure of possible outcomes from the world around her.

None of that meant anything to her.

Today, she was free.

Free to do what she wanted. Free to be as open as she wanted. Free to love the man she wanted. Free to not care about consequences or other’s opinion.

Today was just her, the mountain, the snow, the sky, the rising sun, and the large man trying terribly to creep up behind her.

The moment his large foot crunched in the snow her smile widened. She didn’t turn around, there were only the two of them, alone, and he would already know she was aware of his presence. She always had been, as had always been her choice.

Instead of saying or doing anything the former Raikage sat down behind the petite woman, his legs easily wrapping around her as he pulled her closer into his lap, wrapping his arms, and blanket around her small frame and holding her as close to his chest as possible. He had spent his whole life in the mountains of Rai no Kuni, snow and cold were not new to him but even he was somewhat surprised by the woman’s tenacity for stoicism in face of biting cold.

“Hmp,” he shivered around her once, leaning down to attempt to rest his head on her shoulder, it didn’t get very far and she ended up just leaning her head back and kissing him under the chin. It helped warm him up at least, slightly.

“You didn’t have to get up, my Lord,” he could hear the slight smirk in her voice, always before so stoic and while now similar perhaps it was the stillness around them that allowed him to hear it so easily. She was almost laughing in her chest as he pouted and wrapped himself tighter around her.

“It’s much colder without you,” there was a gruff in his voice as his breath hung in the air above her head. He’d always been so strong throughout their life, and always had to put on the biggest, strongest, bravest face. If she were being honest with herself, she’d always thought it made him look cute.

She leaned back further into him, enjoying the warmth, both from him at her back and the rising sun in front of her. She wouldn’t say she was a morning person, just someone that was always up before dawn either never sleeping or doing so far too little. Her life had been a constant state of survival; fighting enemies, hunting them, protecting her Lord and those closest to them while maintaining everything she could to keep their small little world safe. For the longest time it had been a lonely life, the hidden blade in the shadows pointing out and removing threats. Then she had trained others, finding herself obsolete and in need of finding her purpose. She only had one, only ever really had one, to serve one man, to protect him and be whatever he needed to maintain his power.

With his title and anything else of value effectively given over to his daughter and the man himself having technically died in the fight, he no longer had need to remain solely in that place. He was free to move around and do as he liked, everything else was in his daughter’s capable hands now.

And wherever Gouzin Jinrai went his loyal, faithful and most enduring companion was there to follow. The new Raikage did not need her. Her son did not need her. And most certainly all her subordinates and anyone else she had trained did not _need_ her any longer. Technically she never was a _real_ shinobi and only followed whatever _her_ Raikage had commanded of her. When he left for a much needed vacation, she went with him, there had been no question in **_anyone’s_** mind that that would happen.

It had not been long in their travels and for now they had wound up here, in truth one of her most favorite spots in the mountains from when she had been a young girl training with an old blind assassin. It had been a beautiful view in her youth, wasted on her half-sight and a blind cynic. Now both were gone, her right eye restored during the war and her master finally laid to rest. Honestly, she had never thought to see this place again…

Now, she was sharing it with him.

As the sun rose higher she watched it, utterly content in the warmth surrounding her, deciding nothing could add to the peace she felt at this very moment.

Jin always seemed to find ways of surprising her.

Sneaking one of his large arms out of the blanket, he raised his hand just enough to hold something out in front of her. It was small and round and when her grey eyes finally focused on the object she noticed it made a perfect ring around the sun that had just left the mountain peaks behind.

It was a ring.

A _silver_ ring.

She spent several long seconds staring at the object, her mind utterly blank and having no idea how to interpret such a thing.

There was a low rumbling that shook the small woman’s body as Jin shifted, using his other hand to grab her left hand softly and pulling it out of the safety of the blanket, “Of course, the one time you don’t automatically see what’s in front of you is right now,” he chuckles as his large hand rubbed her smaller one, partly to keep her warm and him wanting to, but also to keep her calm. Her left hand, out of necessity from losing her right eye, had become her dominant hand and she wielded her knife with it efficiently. That hand had ended countless lives and had the strength and instinct to fight him every step of the way had she a mind to. Jin was confident and pleased when she gave him no resistance, trusting him with her greatest weapon the same as he trusted her with his back, “I thought to ask in a more clever way, but I get the feeling you would just laugh and call me an idiot,” delicately he moved his fingers to spread her own, singling out the second to last digit on her left hand, using his other to slide the ring on to it and secure it at the base, “So I figured I’d just do it instead, less hassle that way…”

The small woman smiled, unable to form words as the gravity of the situation started to sink in. _Especially_ when he balled up her left fist into his own and she noticed a much larger but matching sliver band on his own left ring finger.

Without prompting she smiled, holding back the tears of joy in the cold mountain air as she stared at their joined hands, nearly whispering, “I do.”

“Hmp,” the large man chuckled in his chest, wrapping his and her arms tighter around the smaller woman, encasing them in the blanket as they stared off into the dawn of a new day, “I figured you would.”


	21. A Man Named Raizou

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> History of Kumo - The Legend of Raizou!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> canon? - takes place probably a thousand years ago, or several hundred, either way just a legend in Kumo about what happens when the Unstoppable meets the Unmoveable AKA the start of what would become Kumo! :D

History of Kumo 1 – A man named Raizou

In Kumogakure no Sato there are many legends. Stories of such repute they are often laughed at as being impossible or just downright impossible. Foreigners take pride in their tales of ancestry and clan history, stating the fabrications of myth are real and where they come from. In Kumo, it’s the legends and impossible stories they claim as their own, for as impossible as they are, there is more truth there than any fiction the others write of…

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There was once a man named Raizou.

He was the leader of a thunderous, deadly and prosperous band of bandits, thieves and cutthroats. Barbarians as many others would call them for they pillaged the Elemental nations before they even had a name and none of the shinobi clans at the time could stop them.

Raizou was a large man with dark skin and pale blonde hair, a signature in Kumo of the modern age, but at the time something rare and unheard of.

The bandits liked to joke and tell their enemies he was the son of a Thunder Demon, the commoners thought it was his father but Raizou liked to joke it was his mother, for she would call down lightning when angered and his father was a small man that simply got lucky once.

In a time when shinobi clans were sparse and secretive, no one knowing how they could perform their miracles, Raizou was a man feared for his brute strength and determination set him above all other fighters. If it wasn’t his monstrous stature that scared others away it was the giant axe he carried across his shoulders, three times the size of any man and he lifted it as if weighing nothing more than a feather. When he and his band descended from the Oni’s Ridge mountains to pillage and plunder, their massive warhorses and shouts announcing them, it was as if the thunderous storm clouds bellowed and a throng of demons were screaming.

They were a terrifying band that ran rampant and without care wherever they pleased, taking what they wanted and just as likely to kill as to sit down and drink with anyone. Sometimes they could be dissuaded with booze, women and a party, other times no price could appease the rampaging demons as all they wanted was to see blood.

They were a truly terrifying band, made worse by their growing numbers and uncanny martial abilities.

The few lords of the time petitioned the demons be excised by any means necessary, willing to pay any price to protect their lands, and more importantly wealth, from the rampaging monsters. For at the time, these were not men, these were demons.

Several shinobi clans heard the call, finding the bribe of money too sweet to ignore. They chased the demons all across the lands, away from the mountains they hid in, across the barren rocks, the vast desert waste to the west and through the mighty forests to the south.

It is said the fleeing demons, so singular in their rampage to both laugh at their pursuers and get away, ran straight through a war line between the forest people and blacksmiths of the south, their noise and permeating killing intent setting off a feud that would last for hundreds of years, but that’s another story.

Raizou laughed the entire way from the run, at the head of his column and not caring if the weaklings died off. The white eyed hunters would not catch him, or his strongest, if they fell they were weak, if they could keep up with him they were strong and truly worth of the title of ‘Demon’.

He managed to circle back to the mountains, infuriating his pursuers as they thought they had finally ensnared him, but the Thunder Demon simply took his merry band and disappeared into the mist high up in the mountains and they lost sight completely.

The Oni’s ridge mountains were said to be a cursed place, where only demons could live. One step into the place and those gifted with the powers of shinobi lost their energy, the mountain rock itself sucking it from their bodies and leaving them with nothing. Not to mention the higher one went the thinner the air, to the point it was believed one would suffocate if they stood at the top above the black clouds that permanently hung around the place.

Raizou was not afraid, he spent his whole life laughing in the face of death. When the hunters pursued him he went to hell to hide, when the continued he went in further into the mountains knowing eventually they’d either get lost, die, or be left alone when they found him and he’d either have to kill them or they’d join him as they proved themselves not ignorant fools scared off by superstition.

Still, even he was no fool. He knew the rocks in these mountains earned their name, for they would suck the life out of anyone who wasn’t strong enough. It was why he only surrounded himself with the strongest, those that would do anything to survive, they were the only ones that could live in this harsh place.

But even he had not fully explored the mountains, even he had not seen the peaks above the black clouds.

And when the hunters pursued, undeterred or just too determined to finally claim his head, he and his band abandoned their horses and set forth further up, far into territory where truly only demons tread.

Above the clouds and through treacherous rocks, the icy winds and thick fog, he managed to lead what was left of his band further and further in, finding monstrous beasts that flew in the sky, seemingly without wings that enjoyed the flesh of some of his men. In the rocks and crevices were things that stung or bit, things that had no name and sought only to kill whatever intruded on them. Perhaps Raizou was a fool, losing a number of his band to the hazards of this place, but he was not afraid, he’d continue forward to see what there was and however deep he had to go into this harsh wilderness to escape his pursuers.

He was the son of a demon, he would not be chained and shackled to the realm of men or the laws of fat men that though a piece of paper was stronger than a sword. He looted and pillaged because he felt like it, not that he actually wanted any of it. They said he couldn’t do it, so he did it and laughed all the while.

Perhaps he was meant to die at the top of this mountain, finally find the mother he spoke of and maybe the demoness would cast him off or set him straight. He laughed at the idea and pushed forward.

By the time they cleared the black clouds and dark caves full of death only those that were the strongest and loyalist remained. These were the bandits he never had to question, each with their own view and form of morality. They weren’t kind bastards but like him they did as they pleased because they wanted to, not for the gold, not for the money, and not for the booze or women, to them it was fun to fight, or hunt, or screw with people. It was down to he and his ragtag group of ruffians, anarchists to the civil order set down in the lands below. They followed and understood his form of ‘power’ and would likely follow him to hell because it was fun.

What they saw was a sight no one down below had seen for centuries.

Standing on the precipice they saw the world above the black clouds, stark and clear with the sun shining brightly as the peaks of the deadly mountains shown white, poking out the clouds like a dark sea one could just swim across.

Even bandits could understand beauty of the natural world.

Raizou swore this would be his home, this would be land he died for one day.

But not today…

In the distance they spotted a building carved into the shadowy mountainside. That became their new destination and the closer they got the more the bandits realized it was a stone temple.

One of his crew joked it was a hidden nunnery full of godly maidens that needed to learn of men.

The one woman of their crew hit him upside the head, before grinning and claiming it was probably full of old men and boys that needed to learn about the _real_ world.

Raizou simply laughed, saying both were probably right… either way, this would be the perfect place to claim as their hideout. Whoever lived there, god or demon, needed to learn their place or face his axe.

When they made it to the grounds in front of the colossal stone temple they were greeted with a small army that matched them in size.

 All were young men, muscled and swathed in grey cloth with shaved heads and each holding a different weapon.

The woman got her money from the other bandits and Raizou laughed.

“We come looking for goddesses, and all we find are dickless monks?”

One stepped forward, eyes closed with a staff in hand and a strange tattoo that looked like an eye on his forehead.

“Leave this holy place, you are unworthy.” He simply said.

Raizou just grinned, putting his massive axe down, cracking the ground at his feet, “I’m the bandit they call Raizou, the Thunder Demon, and these are my merry men,” he waved his hand back, his brothers in arms laughing while their one sister flipped him off, “And that’s Sayuri, don’t mind her…” this caused them to laugh harder as the woman elbowed the man closest to her.

Many of the younger looking monks gulped and the bandits figured they didn’t know what to do with a woman.

“Hey Boss,” one shouted, holding Sayuri by her shoulder, “You should just have sis here show them her wiles and they’ll back off!!”

Her delicate response was to punch him in the face.

Raizou just laughed, “And deny myself a good fight? Hell no!”

The lead monk grimaced, “We do not want a fight,” he held his staff in front of him, taking a unique stance, “But we will defend this temple from any invaders.”

Raizou just rubbed his chin, looking them all over, “I’ll fight you baldy,” he grabbed his axe, hefting the mass of metal on his shoulders without problem, “And when I win, this place is ours to do with as we please!”

“You will leave, or we will cast your bodies to the sky for the Minazuki to eat,” the monk threatened.

Raizou just grinned, “Sounds good to me,” and charged, striking the first blow.

The monk swiftly deflected, kicking the brute in the face with unparalleled skill.

The bandit leader was not deterred, merely grinned as he grabbed the monk’s foot and threw him into a wall, only for the monk to spin and kick off it coming at him further with his staff.

Around the two fighting broke out as the Monks and Bandits fought for the temple, always keeping a wide berth for the main fight between their leaders.

By the first night the Monks were winning, using their mysticism to see in the dark while the Bandits fumbled clumsily.

By the second day the Bandits fought back in the light of day, ferociously as if they sun gave them strength.

By the third half the participants on both side were winded and decided to sit this out, defended by their brothers (and Sister) who kept fighting.

By the fifth the only ones still fighting were the leaders, the Head Monk and Raizou who seemed to have never noticed night or day passed or that their comrades were done.

By the sixth Sayuri had gotten bored and grabbed one of the dickless-monks and went inside the temple. they didn’t return until nightfall with food and drink, the man as red as the blood on his cheek and Sayuri grinning like a victor as she passed out drinks for her brothers and enemies alike.

By the seventh night the bandits and monks were drinking like brothers, watching as their leaders still fought.

By the tenth day the bandits had already looked about the place, acquainting themselves with monks and nuns alike and by the time they returned to the front courtyard they realized their leaders were still fighting.

One of the mouthy bandits took his tankard and threw it at the two, hitting Raizou in the back of the head who then headbutt the Head Monk, knocking them both out as they’d been running off of nothing and they gracelessly collapsed in a heap.

The bandits laughed, the monks and nuns had no idea what to think.

The two leaders slept for another day, waking famished only to get their fill and sleep another three.

In the two weeks since they got there the other bandits and monks had talked at length while their leaders fought and rested. The bandits were far too willing to share stories of their conquests and the outside world, the monks marveling at things they’d never heard of and offering their own knowledge that honestly most of the bandits were too dumb to understand.

Sayuri was of particular interest to the nuns, a woman that fought with the bandits on equal footing and took what she pleased just the same? She revealed to them her sortied history and told them tales that made them all blush, but that’s a tale for another day.

On the fifteenth day after the Bandits arrived, the Head Monk opened his eyes and found the familiar ceiling of the temple’s infirmary. Put out he frowned, thinking he had lost.

There was a bellow next to him and he realized the brute was with him as well.

“That was the best fight I’d ever had!!” and Raizou continued laughing.

The Head Monk had to concede he too found an unusual joy in their combat. He had found no challenge in years, he was an unmovable rock that none of the other monks could face or move.

And here was a man that claimed himself unstoppable. It made sense they would find a strange stalemate if they fought.

Raizou held out his bandaged hand to his bad fellow, “All we want is a place to hide, Monk, can you do us that?”

The Head Monk looked at the man’s offered hand. He could not help but think of an old adage: _What happens when the Unstoppable meets the Unmovable?_ He grinned taking his hand, “Protect us and help us in our cause and we will not care for your presence here.”

Apparently they shook hands, becoming friends through battle and earning a respect neither ever expected to find.

From that day forward the Bandits had place to retreat to and hide, a place they could drop off their spoils and safely leave their wounded, young and old. The Monks, who had come to this hollow place outside the world to study in peace the mysteries of chakra that was left by the old gods and demons found formidable allies, those without skill that could fight like any demon and offered the monks things they had never considered or would have found in their meditations.

This bond, forged so serendipitously between raw power and strength of mind would become the basis of a great power in the years to come. Eventually culminating in a long history and the formation of a Village Hidden in the Clouds.

But that was a story for another day.

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End file.
